Tech companies get involved in abortion politics in Texas

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first of all Statement of reproductive organization. Then there are technology companies.

After the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to prevent a Texas law from prohibiting most abortions six weeks later, the Dallas Match Group, which owns Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, sent a memo to its employees. “Unless it’s related to our business, the company usually doesn’t take a political stance,” Shadubi Write. “But in this case, as a woman in Texas, I personally cannot remain silent.” The company set up a fund to pay for the travel expenses of employees seeking care outside of Texas. Austin-based Bumble has set up a similar fund.

Senate Bill 8 that came into effect last week allows ordinary citizens to sue anyone who “helps and abets” an abortion, including providers, counselors, and even carpool drivers who provide transportation services to clinics. California-based Uber and Lyft said they will bear legal costs for drivers implicated by the law. “This law does not comply with people’s basic privacy rights, our community guidelines, the spirit of carpooling, and our values ​​as a company,” Lyft wrote in a statement to drivers. The company also said it will donate US$1 million to Planned Parenthood.

“We are very worried about how this law will affect our employees in the state,” wrote Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, who has an office in Dallas.Stoppelman had previously signed a Open Letter 2019 Like the CEOs of Twitter, Slack, Postmates, and Zoom, they called the abortion ban “bad for businesses.”

In recent years, this kind of proposal has become more and more common, especially among well-known technology companies. Companies in 2021 seem to need to have their own perspectives and use their platforms to advocate policies on immigration, gay rights and climate change. Last summer, after the “Black people’s fate is also a fate” protest, Almost all large technology companies Issued a statement condemning racism and vowed to support anti-racism work. “Keeping silent is complicit,” Netflix official account Tweet. (Speaking bluntly does not protect the company from criticize Their own records, especially in Diversity and inclusion.)

It can be said that, at least in certain types of companies, company opinions have become the norm.Companies that remain silent on SB 8—including some major employers in Texas—have criticize Because it doesn’t make a statement.HP moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Houston last year. It encourages employees to “participate in the political process of their lives and work, and speak out through propaganda and polling stations.” Abortion rights have become one of the most divergent issues in the United States: According to According to a survey, six out of ten Americans said it should be legal in all or most cases The most recent Pew survey; Nearly four in ten people think the opposite.

Few major companies have expressed enthusiastic praise for the Texas law, which is one of the strictest laws in the country. (Thursday, Ministry of Justice Sue Texas Stop it. ) As the head of Tripwire Interactive, a video game company headquartered in Georgia Tweet In support of the Supreme Court’s ruling, he was criticized by thousands of people online, including some of his own employees. He left office soon. The company issued a statement apologizing and promised to create a “more positive environment.”

For a technology company, a tough stand on social issues can be an extension of its brand or even a recruitment tool.A LinkedIn PollsBeginning in 2018, it was found that most people will reduce their pay to work in a place that meets their values.



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