Two companies behind some of the most popular dating apps in the US are stepping up to help Texans access abortion services in response to a new law that opponents say will block about 85 percent of abortions.
The Texas law took effect on Wednesday, creating an interesting situation where someone’s friends and neighbors are the actual enforcers of the law, and not the state – a form of state-sanctioned vigilantism.
Bumble, a popular dating site based in the state capital of Austin and led by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, said Wednesday that it was launching a fund “supporting the reproductive rights of women and people across the gender spectrum who seek abortions in Texas,” reports CNN.
“Bumble is women-founded and women-led, and from day one we’ve stood up for the most vulnerable. We’ll keep fighting against regressive laws like #SB8,” the company added.
Relief funds will go to organizations that support women’s reproductive rights including Fund Texas Choice, according to Bumble.
Shar Dubey, the CEO of Dallas-based Match Group, which owns Match.com, Tinder, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, and Hinge, said she was creating a fund to ensure that employees and their dependents would be able to seek care outside of the state, according to Forbes.
“I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago” and “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 wrote in an internal memo.
“Surely everyone should see the danger of this highly punitive and unfair law that doesn’t even make an exception for victims of rape or incest,” she added.
A PerryUndem poll released this week found that nearly two-thirds of college-educated workers would refuse a job in a state that bars abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
The poll results are in direct contrast to what Texas Governor Greg Abbott told CNBC on Thursday. It is difficult to believe Abbott addressed the just recently passed abortion law, by saying in his interview with CNBC that the state’s abortion regulations and voting laws are “accelerating the process of businesses coming to Texas.”
According to the Dallas Morning News. Abbott suggested CEO Elon Musk moved Tesla’s operations from California to Texas because of its social policies, however, Musk didn’t jump on Abbott’s bandwagon.
“In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people,” Musk responded on Twitter, adding he “would prefer to stay out of politics.”
