Companies that have come forward to offer travel benefits to employees going out of state to obtain an abortion face a vexing question: How can they avoid creating a paper trail that law enforcement could access to confirm that an individual has received an abortion? 

To find out, Corporate Counsel spoke with attorneys who specialize in employee benefits, data privacy and cybersecurity. They share what kind of information law enforcement and other state officials are most likely to seek out, the circumstances in which employers and other stakeholders holding employee information need to comply with law enforcement, and best practices for employers looking to provide a travel benefit. 

What Information Could Law Enforcement Seek to Obtain?

When an employer opts to provide abortion-related travel benefits for employees, they face three major risks, said Mamta Shah, who specializes in employee benefits law as a partner at ArentFox Schiff, one of several law firms that have assembled reproductive health care groups to handle corporate client questions on Dobbs.