As the country and the rest of the world deal with the aftershocks of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade,Xboxjoined the ranks of organizations and companies trying to assuage fears from its employees. That attempt came in the form of a message on Friday afternoon that promised thatXboxwould do “everything it can” to make sure that employees would continue to have access to critical healthcare.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday removed decades of legal precedent that held a woman’s right to privacy allowed for the constitutional protection of reproductive healthcare, including abortions. It marked the first time in the high court’s history that it had rolled back constitutional protections that had been enshrined for so long in this way. In response,several companies in the video game industryand elsewhere voiced displeasure with the ruling. Some of those companies went further than decrying the court’s actions and made statements offering up plans on how employees could still get access to the same healthcare benefits they were able to receive prior to Friday.
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Xbox took to its official Twitter account first with the message that it would do all it could for people that work for the division of Microsoft. Not long after the initial tweet, it laid out exactly what it was going to be doing in the aftermath of SCOTUS' decision.
In thesame vein as Bungie’s initiative, Xbox first pointed out that its U.S. health care plans cover lawful medical services like abortion and gender-affirming care. The company then said that it had expanded its travel benefits to include travel expense support assistance.
With Xbox andBungie being the first to offer this kind of support, it underlines just how the SCOTUS ruling could impact the country in the coming weeks, months, and years. The court did not outlaw abortion outright but instead said that it was a “states' rights” issue meaning that each individual state could either outlaw or allow it. Xbox is essentially saying it will reimburse people who live in a state where abortion is illegal to travel to a state where it’s allowed.
Considering the sheer number of companies like Xbox,Naughty Dog, and others that issued statements in support of Roe v. Wade after the Supreme Court’s decision, it seems likely that including this kind of benefit inside insurance policies will become quite widespread. Earlier Friday, Dick’s Sporting Goods was one of the first companies in the country to offer a similar travel expense support plan.
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