House Republicans want to axe Citi contracts over bank’s abortion benefits

Dozens of Republican lawmakers are calling on the United States to cancel government contracts with Citigroup after the banking giant offered to pay for the travel expenses of employees seeking abortion.

Citi, the country’s fourth-largest bank, provides credit cards to members of the House of Representatives to pay for flights, office supplies and other goods. MP Mike Johnson and 44 other lawmakers are calling on House Administrative Director Catherine Szpindor to cancel the contract, arguing that the legislature has long embraced a policy of not funding abortions with money from the House. taxpayers.

“By offering to pay its employees in their efforts to end the lives of the unborn, Citi has lost its privilege of doing business with the House of Representatives,” wrote the Louisiana lawmaker and fellow Republicans. on April 5th. letter and Szpindor.

The controversy over Citi’s position on abortion highlights the intense focus of corporate policies on hot issues. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is arguing with The Walt Disney Co. for its opposition to a state law restricting sex and gender education in schools. And in Texas, companies like Apple, Alphabet, Johnson & Johnson, Macy’s and REI recently condemned an order from Governor Greg Abbott which equated gender assertion health care for transgender adolescents with child abuse.

Companies take a stand

Citigroup added the travel benefit reported by Republicans to its job offers after several states enacted restrictive reproductive health care laws. Texas it now bans most abortions after six weeks, effectively outlawing the procedure in the state. The president of the Texas Republican Party last month urged Republicans not to use Citiservices of.

Citi unveiled the new policy in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15. The bank said: “In response to changes in reproductive health laws in certain US states, from 2022 onwards we offer travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources.”

A Citi spokesman declined to comment, while a spokesman for Szpindor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Many large corporations have volunteered for a year to cover the costs of abortion workers. Citi’s new policy echoes that of other companies, such as Apple and Hewlett Packard, which help cover travel to other states for medical procedures.

Citi’s new policy was adopted under the leadership of CEO Jane Fraser first woman to run the bank or any major Wall Street company. But other corporations have also said in recent months that they would help state employees with restrictive abortion laws.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, said in September that the company will help employees who want to leave Texas because of state abortion restrictions. And Dallas-based Match Group CEO Shar Dubey set up a fund to help any of the company’s Texas workers who may need to travel out of state for the procedure.