• Tesla began covering costs for its employees to receive out-of-state abortions in 2021.
  • The policy came as states like Texas, where Tesla is now based, passed tighter abortion restrictions.
  • It puts Elon Musk at odds with his conservative fans as the Supreme Court looks likely to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Tesla, the electric vehicle company owned by billionaire and soon-to-be Twitter owner Elon Musk, is paying for employees to get out-of-state abortions. 

According to the company's 2021 Impact Report, Tesla began providing an "expanded Safety Net program and health insurance offering" last year, which includes "travel and lodging support for those who may need to seek healthcare services that are unavailable in their home state." 

That came after the company relocated to Texas, where abortion was outlawed after the six-week mark in August 2021.

That policy places Tesla among a growing list of companies that are helping employees access abortion care in the wake of new restrictions passed at the state level, as well as fresh concerns that Roe v. Wade could be overturned next month following the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion doing just that.

And it puts Musk — who's otherwise become a hero among conservatives following his purchase of Twitter last month — at odds with some of his cheerleaders.

Chief among them is Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who introduced a bill this week to prevent companies from making tax deductions for employees' abortion-related travel costs or for gender-affirming care for minors.

"Too often our corporations find loopholes to subsidize the murder of unborn babies or horrific 'medical' treatments on kids," said Rubio in a statement touting the bill. "My bill would make sure this does not happen."

Though Tesla's impact report makes no mention of minors, the company does tout the fact that it has provided "transgender benefits aligned with the clinical protocol set forth by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health" since 2018.

Rubio's bill is part of a long-standing crusade by the one-time 2016 presidential candidate against what he sees as collusion between big business and "Marxism."

"[Corporate leaders] are the product of decades of anti-American indoctrination at our elite universities and they feel no obligation to America or its national interest," said Rubio during a speech last fall. "I'm not here to tell you big business is the enemy. But I'm here to tell you big business is not our ally in the fight against socialism."

But Rubio has also showed cautious optimism for Musk's recent purchase of Twitter, which he said had caused a "meltdown" among the "far left" because they fear "losing the power to threaten, silence and destroy anyone who doesn't agree with them."

Rubio's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Some of the Florida senator's Republican colleagues were even more enthusiastic about Musk's Twitter purchase.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called it the "most important development for free speech in decades," while Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana lauded the purchase as a "clear win for free speech and America."

 

But while Musk's self-avowed commitment to free speech and seeming disdain for the progressive left has given hope to some conservatives, the tech billionaires' ideology may prove too libertarian for a party increasingly interested in using the power of the state to promote conservative values.

"In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people," wrote Musk in a tweet in September 2021. "That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics."

 

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