Jefferies Will Cover Travel Costs for Out-of-State Abortions, Donate $1 Million to Charity

(Bloomberg) -- Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will cover travel costs for workers seeking an abortion outside of states that have banned or restricted the procedure.

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“Jefferies will, of course, join other businesses around the U.S. that will cover any employee-partner’s costs should she decide to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy and be forced to do so in a state other than the one in which she lives,” Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler and President Brian Friedman said in a statement Monday.

The two executives also said they will personally donate a combined $1 million to charities that promote women’s rights.

Wells Fargo & Co. said Monday in an internal memo that it will also expand its travel benefit to include “reimbursement of transportation and lodging costs for legal abortion-related services” starting July 1.

Wells Fargo and New York-based Jefferies joins major US banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. in agreeing to pay travel costs. The US Supreme Court on Friday overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, wiping out the constitutional right to abortion in a ruling that’s likely to render the procedure largely illegal in half the country.

(Updates with Wells Fargo in fourth paragraph.)

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