The SAG-AFTRA Well being Plan will now reimburse prices for journey and lodging associated to abortion take care of individuals who reside and work in states the place abortion is illegitimate.
Trustees of the guild’s well being plan unanimously accepted the brand new profit, which is efficient as of Aug. 1 of this 12 months. A full description of the profit is described in a Abstract of Materials Modifications, which may be discovered right here.
SAG-AFTRA and the Administration Plan Trustees stated in a press launch Friday that they “are looking for to make sure individuals will proceed to have entry to secure abortion providers no matter the place they reside or work.”
“SAG-AFTRA as each a union and an employer is dedicated to the precept that each one our members, all our staff, and certainly all Individuals ought to have equal entry to crucial, crucial and infrequently life-saving reproductive well being care, wherever they reside or work,” the assertion reads.
If a Well being Plan participant lives in a state the place abortion is authorized however works in a state that prohibits abortion, the participant can select between going dwelling for the process or going to the state closest to their office the place abortion is authorized. And for these dwelling in states the place it’s outlawed, they might select to have the process within the state closest to them the place abortion is authorized.
The transfer follows comparable bulletins by Hollywood’s studios within the wake of the Dobbs resolution that led to abortion rapidly being outlawed or significantly restricted in lots of states throughout the U.S., during which such journey prices could be lined by firm well being plans.
Nevertheless, a gaggle of over 400 showrunners and TV creators final month wrote a letter to studios calling on extra particular calls for because it pertains to abortions, together with an overview of medical care for workers, prison and authorized safety and an finish to political donations to anti-abortion candidates. Whereas the studios collectively responded to the open letter, its response didn’t acknowledge any particular calls for, main the group Girls in Movie to decry the response as taking the “simple approach out.”
“They sidestepped the arduous work of providing actual and particular protections for his or her at-risk staff and took the straightforward approach out. We’re upset by this cowardice,” the assertion learn.
