Starbucks so as to add abortion travel protection to U.S. health benefits

May 16 (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) will reimburse U.S. workers if they need to journey more than 100 miles from their homes to obtain an abortion, according to a memo sent to workers on Monday.

The global espresso chain joins Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and a small but growing list of other corporations to offer the benefit as some U.S. states impose tighter restrictions on abortion. read extra .

The issue gained urgency after Politico revealed a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Courtroom exhibiting that a conservative majority of justices supported overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide read extra

"Like lots of you, I’m deeply involved by the draft Supreme Court docket opinion associated to the constitutional proper to abortion that was first established by Roe v. Wade," wrote Sara Kelly, a human assets government.

The benefit also applies to the dependents of workers, the memo mentioned.

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Reporting by Hilary Russ Modifying by Chizu Nomiyama

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