By David McQuade
Article Source
“The haunting of Sarah Winchester” is a historically thought provoking, uniquely American anecdote.
As the story goes, the heiress of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company used her fortune to build rooms in her house for the spirits of those fallen victim to Winchester rifles, lest she be haunted by them. Over the course of 40 years, the small farmhouse she bought in San Jose, Calif., in 1884 became a colossal, never-finished house for spirits she believed her family was responsible for.
At the time of her death, the freakish 7-story mansion boasted 161 rooms, 47 fireplaces, 10,000 panes of glass, two basements, three elevators and a mysterious fun-house-like interior.
Mrs. Winchester’s must have been an overwhelmingly onerous sense of guilt, even though in hindsight it’s easy to see that she didn’t bear culpability. Sarah didn’t discharge a single firearm that killed anyone, that we know of.
Of course, I wouldn’t jump to her defense had she routinely hired assassins using Winchesters. Not dissimilarly, progressive executives who routinely pay for employee abortions don’t necessarily hold the life-ending curettage wand, but they most certainly share responsibility with the hand that does.
The estimates are between 60 million and 70 million young lives that have been violently terminated by these otherwise inanimate objects (not unlike a rifle that can be used for good or evil), and progressive corporations are eager to enable the ghoulish hands that add to that horrifying number – though I wouldn’t wish on the widows of curettage equipment companies the sense of guilt that tormented Sarah Winchester.
But the similarities are clearly worth thinking about as the post-Roe abortion debate rages on.
Forking over cash to terminate the life of a baby at any stage would be an unthinkably haunting prospect to the God-fearing among us. “If you harm one of these little ones …” I’d certainly be tormented and probably begin adding rooms to my house this week. But individuals hardened by big money atop progressive corporations appear to have little trouble sleeping at night in the Hamptons, even when paying for many “terminations.”
How quickly corporatists run amok by greed and the love of money forget they too were once innocent “fetuses.” But innocent no more. They are grown-up, down-to-business men and women now. And paying for abortion is cheaper than paying for pregnancy leave and adding a name to a family’s health care plan. “Sorry, kid. We have stakeholders to enrich, so we need your mom to stay on the job.”
Yahoo News celebrates progressive companies who prefer the perverse cost-saving measure at the expense of life in the womb this way:
JPMorgan Chase & Co. – The company told employees it would pay for their travel to states that allow legal abortions, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
Citigroup Inc. – The bank has started covering travel expenses for employees who go out of state for abortions because of newly enacted restrictions in Texas and other states, becoming the first major U.S. bank to make that commitment.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will cover travel expenses for its U.S.-based employees who need to go out of state to receive abortion or gender-affirming medical care starting July 1.
Meta Platforms Inc. – (Facebook) said in statement it intends to offer travel expense reimbursements, to the extent permitted by law, for employees who will need access to out-of-state health care and reproductive services.
Yelp Inc. – The crowd-sourced review platform will extend its abortion coverage to cover expenses for its employees and their dependents who need to travel to another state for abortion services.
Amazon.com Inc. – The second-largest U.S. private employer told employees it will pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses yearly for non-life threatening medical treatments, among them elective abortions.
Levi Strauss & Co. – The apparel company will reimburse travel expenses for its full- and part-time employees who need to travel to another state for health care services, including abortions.
United Talent Agency – The private Hollywood talent agency said it would reimburse travel expenses related to women’s reproductive health services that are not accessible in an employee’s state of residence.
Microsoft Corp – Microsoft said it would extend its abortion and gender affirming care services for employees in the United States to include travel expense assistance.
Starbucks Corp – Starbucks said it will reimburse U.S. employees and their dependents if they must travel more than 100 miles from their homes to obtain an abortion.
Netflix Inc. – Netflix said it will offer travel reimbursement for U.S. employees and dependents who travel for cancer treatment, transplants, abortion and gender-affirming care through its U.S. health plans.
Mastercard Inc. – Mastercard said it will fund travel and lodging for employees seeking abortions outside their home states from June, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
Kroger Co. – Kroger said it will provide travel benefits up to $4,000 to facilitate access to several categories of medical treatments and a full range of reproductive health care services, including abortion.
Uber Technologies Inc. – Uber said its insurance plans in the United States cover a range of reproductive health benefits, including pregnancy termination and travel expenses to access health care.
DoorDash Inc. – DoorDash said it will cover certain travel-related expenses for employees who face new barriers to access and need to travel out of state for abortion-related care.
Lyft Inc. – Lyft said its U.S. medical benefits plan includes coverage for elective abortion and reimbursement for travel costs if an employee must travel more than 100 miles for an in-network provider.
Bank of America Corp – The bank said it will reimburse employees and their dependents for the cost of traveling to receive reproductive health care, including abortions.
Deutsche Bank AG – The bank said it is updating its U.S. health care policy to cover travel costs for any medical procedure, including abortion, that is not offered within 100 miles of an employees’ home, according to a source familiar.
American Express Co. – American Express said it will cover travel and other related expenses for employees and their dependents if they need abortion or gender-affirming treatment that is not available where they live.
Block – The payments company said it will cover expenses for U.S. employees who must travel more than 100 miles for abortions starting July 1, a source familiar with the matter said.
Macy’s Inc. – Macy’s said it made the decision to expand its benefits program to provide travel reimbursement for colleagues to receive the medical care needed and will abide by existing laws and legal standards.
Walt Disney Co. – Disney said the company’s benefits will cover the cost of employees who need to travel to another location to access care, including to obtain an abortion, it said.
Gucci – Gucci said in May it will cover travel expenses of U.S. employees who need access to health care not available in their home state. The company also has said it will match employee donations to Planned Parenthood.
It’s only a suggestion, but perhaps the heiresses of complicit companies who evidently love money more than children should start their own never-finished homes in San Jose. One can never be too wary of the departed spirits of young lives violently cut short – when you’re the one paying to do so.