Tech companies oppose Texas abortion law
Several companies have taken steps to either limit abortion whistleblowers or support women who want to receive abortions
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A number of big-name tech companies are expressing their opposition toward Texas' new abortion law with new policies and offers.
Several companies have taken steps to either limit abortion whistleblowers or support women who want to receive abortions in light of the new law banning women from getting abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Rideshare apps Lyft and Uber, for example, on Friday announced new offers to cover drivers' legal fees if they are sued under the new Texas law for driving women seeking abortions to clinics.
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Lyft cofounders Logan Green and John Zimmer, as well as Lyft General Counsel Kristin Sverchek, issued a statement saying the law "threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go — specifically, women exercising their right to choose and to access the healthcare they need."
"We want to be clear: Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why," the Lyft executives said. "…This law is incompatible with people’s basic rights to privacy, our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company."
Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft said Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 they will cover the legal fees of any driver who is sued under the new law prohibiting most abortions in Texas. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Lyft's new Driver Legal Defense Fund will cover "100%" of legal fees for drivers sued under the law. The company is also donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood "to help ensure that transportation is never a barrier to healthcare access."
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted Friday in response to Lyft's announcement that Uber is "in too and will cover legal fees in the same way."
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Web search platform GoDaddy on Friday suspended service for an anti-abortion group’s website called Prolifewhistleblower.com that allowed users to report violations of Texas’ restrictive abortion law.
The website established by Texas Right to Life allowed users to submit anonymous tips about suspected abortions. GoDaddy’s decision came after the website faced intense criticism from pro-choice activists.
"We have informed prolifewhistleblower.com they have 24 hours to move to another provider for violating our terms of service," a GoDaddy representative said in a statement obtained by Reuters and other outlets.
Anti-abortion protesters wait outside the Supreme Court for a decision, Monday, June 29, 2020 in Washington on the Louisiana case, Russo v. June Medical Services LLC. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The company told ARS Technica that the website "violated multiple provisions" in GoDaddy’s terms of service, including a provision that bars websites that collect "non-public or personally identifiable information" without consent.
Match Group, the parent company of dating app Tinder, and competitor dating app Bumble, on Thursday also took measures to support Texas employees seeking abortions outside the state.
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Match Group said CEO Shar Dubey sent a memo to employees on Thursday saying she is personally creating a fund to help Match employees based in Texas get access to abortion procedures outside the state.
"I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say, as a Texas resident, I am shocked that I now live in a state where women’s reproductive laws are more regressive than most of the world, including India," Dubey said in the memo.
Rival dating app Bumble also criticized the law and announced on Instagram it will donate funds to six organizations that support women’s reproductive rights.
Both dating companies are based in Texas and led by women.
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Meanwhile, other major corporations that have spoken out about other Republican-led laws, like Texas' new voting law, have remained largely silent on the Texas abortion law.
The measure, which also allows private citizens in Texas to sue abortion providers and others suspected of helping women get abortions for damages of up to $10,000, went into effect Wednesday after the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to deny an effort from abortion providers to stop the measure from being enacted.
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The law includes certain exceptions for medical emergencies but none for victims of incest or rape.
Fox Business' Thomas Barrabi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.