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U.S. companies lash out at Texas law changes, including abortion ban

Published 09/03/2021, 04:39 PM
Updated 09/04/2021, 05:05 PM
© Reuters. Logan Green, co-Founder and CEO of Lyft speaks at the WSJTECH live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S. October 22, 2019.    REUTERS/ Mike Blake

© Reuters. Logan Green, co-Founder and CEO of Lyft speaks at the WSJTECH live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S. October 22, 2019. REUTERS/ Mike Blake

By Tina Bellon and Jessica DiNapoli

AUSTIN, Texas/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. companies including Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) Group Inc and Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) Inc voiced their displeasure on Friday at new Texas laws on abortion, handguns, and voting limitations, a fresh sign of increased efforts by some firms to signal their commitment to social responsibility.

Lyft and Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Inc said they will cover all legal fees for the ride-hail companies' drivers sued under a law that puts in place a near-total ban on abortion.

Lyft will also donate $1 million to women's health provider Planned Parenthood, chief executive Logan Green said on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) https://twitter.com/logangreen/status/1433872421254098945?s=20.

"This is an attack on women's access to healthcare and on their right to choose," Green said of the new Texas law.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted https://twitter.com/dkhos/status/1433894081487273987?s=20 in response to Green's announcement that his company would cover drivers' legal fees in the same way, thanking Green for taking the initiative.

The ban https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-declines-block-texas-abortion-ban-2021-09-02, which took effect Wednesday, leaves enforcement up to individual citizens, enabling them to sue anyone who provides or "aids or abets" an abortion after six weeks. This potentially includes drivers who unknowingly take women to clinics for abortion procedures.

On Wednesday, Tinder-owner Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH)'s CEO and rival dating platform Bumble Inc said they were setting up funds to help Texas-based employees seeking abortion care outside the state.

Website hosting service GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) Inc on Friday, meanwhile, shut down a Texas anti-abortion website that allowed people to report suspected abortions.

The reaction to the law change in Texas comes at a time when many companies are seeking to burnish their corporate and environmental governance credentials with consumers.

Companies also reacted to the Texas legislature this week passing the final version of a bill that outlaws drive-through and 24-hour voting locations and gives poll watchers more power, widely seen as restricting voting access.

"We hoped for a different outcome for this legislation, and we're disappointed by this result," an American Airlines spokesperson said in an email.

A spokesperson for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Co, based in Texas, said, "As a global company of 60,000 team members, HPE encourages our team members to engage in the political process where they live and work and make their voices heard through advocacy and at the voting booth."

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The U.S flag and the Texas State flag fly over the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Meanwhile, a law allowing people to carry concealed handguns without any permit went into effect in Texas on Wednesday.

"Looking at the abortion law, or the gun law, or the voting law, it's a form of vigilante justice, where you're empowering individuals to enforce the law," said Tyson Tuttle, the CEO of Austin-based Silicon Laboratories. "It's been a rough week in Texas and a harbinger of what's to come across the country."

Latest comments

once again another instance of Texas proving they are 30 years behind modern times.
Baby murderers crying for not being able to *******like they were used to. Sick people.
hick texan: I won't wear a mask or get vaccinated but u should raise that child by yourself for the next 18 years
wow, you are not very bright. The baby isn’t my responsibilty anymore than me having a baby is your responsibility. But, those dont want to take responsibilty shouldnt be allowed to murder the baby. Also, women still have 6 weeks to abort. You should try to be a decent human being.
as if a women even knows shes pregnant at six weeks. smh. u really are a m.o.r.o.n when did the taliban come here to tell women what to do. and by the way it will be ur responsibility when that child has no support structure growing up. but u will sit there and complain about that won't u
typical scare tactic by repubs they use on their supporters with little minds. sorry bubs try it on someone else
so is Texas going to fund orphanages will the single moms be on their own. Sounds like a repeat of all that hasn't worked. Good job Texas. No one is behind you
Actually everyone is. You dems are as filthy as they get. Cant believe you convinced an entire party to believe killiing a baby is the right choice to make.
yeah greasy haired guys that don't know the first thing about taking care of a child are for this.
Not true and unfounded. Still just as easy to off babies in TX, just gotta get on it a bit earlier. Also, waaaaay easier to vote today in EVERY state than it was even 10 years ago. This is all more fascist whining.
Being a native of Texas I can tell you the economy is more and more driven by Austin Dallas and Houston. As the oil economy becomes less relevant TX over the next decade you will see a state politically closer to Colorado. These outlandish laws ars the last grasp for power by a dying dynasty
Obviously not many of the rocking chair crowd lives in Tx
obviously most people are decent enough to oppose to understand democrat policy has destroyed everything its ruled. Some people just dont like killing babies… go figure. You’re pretty revolting.
And yet they agree with Uighur concentration camps 200%
Don’t care about any of these companies.
lash out at a law? not possible. lashing out at conservatives!
Commitment to social responsibility ???? Yes what could be more socially responsible than snuffing out the little lives of future consumers.(sarc) Texas is the model of the future.
Kill babies and sell the parts. Horrific.
We should just divide the nation in half..Liberals on the west coast and Conservatives on the east coast? I can assure the East would end up like the Ritz carlton and the west...well a bunch of men running around thinking they are women..women and men wanting to be called pronouns of they..it..with gender neutral bathrooms! oh those bathrooms would be the street and peoples yards!! tent cities of homeless ....Oh wait we already started this..California? hmmm how is that working out?
That hick knows how to spell, and you are still a mistake by bad parents.
and that's fine parents should have that choice. who are u to tell them no
and that's fine parents should have that choice. who are u to tell them no
Thank God someone is protecting the human rights of the unborn.  When will humanity see the error in their ways on ******
Yeah only unborn live matter. But after they are born, they are on their own. Who care about the starving children or those without access to free medical care right?
false dichotomy, it's not either/or, no one wants that.
As societies become more banal, it hastens the inevitable, the total collapse of this once Great Nation similar to Nero's Rome.
The Texas law is a gross overreach on women's rights to govern their bodies. This from the no mask mandates and open carry Abbott. The state is run by "men" with a napoleon complex.
nobody has a right to ***sn unborn child. It doesnt matter if that child is an inconvenience. You helped create it now grow up and take responsibility for your choices!
imagine if someone told u the same about any of ur choices
Killing babies and selling the parts. Barbaric. Well beyond psychotic.
The Texas paradox, you canot get an abortion, but you can conceal a deadly weapon …
you can get ***but only before 6 weeks of pregnancy
They just have to get on it sooner. They can still off as many babies as they please.
choose to kill your baby....how is that an option in a civilized people group? sick
Also in case of ****** ****or a 13 year old girl?
r-a-p-e or ****
i-n-c-e-s/t
Conservatives warn the Dems will take away people freedom; and then they went and takes away women's freedom
Its not freedom.. its murder. Go murder somewhere else not in TX.
Texans are like the US version of the Taliban
How do you report a post on this site?
So in abandoning their duties as businesses to make a profit they are going to alienate over half the country?  The communists continue to reveal themselves.
Absolutely correct. Breach of fiduciary duty to shareholders. A few judgment recoveries against individual directors with a "conscience" should take care of that.I Government requirements on the corporations is a "taking" of property without compensation enforced in inverse condemnation proceedings. Time for shareholders to unite.
Alpha brain take is corporations are communist. OK
How can a loss-making company hand out cash like this? I'd be kicking up a stink if I were a shareholder.
"Everything woke turns to ***"
Stay strong Texas!
Hmm
investing.com, raise your prices and I'm gone
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