Bumble and Match to fund abortions for Texan women
Rival dating apps Bumble and Match have launched funds for Texan women after a controversial law passed banning abortions from week six of pregnancy.
Match and Bumble will help women travel out of state to have the procedure after Texas passed its abortion law on Wednesday, banning the procedure from the moment a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
The change will make around 85 per cent of abortions ineligible with medical experts commenting that many women do not even know they are pregnant at such an early stage.
Bumble issued a statement on Twitter to announce the relief fund saying “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.”
Bumble’s CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, the youngest female self-made billionaire, created a dating app which empowers women to make the first move after leaving the executive board of Tinder.
Dallas based dating company Match circulated a memo amongst staff letting them know the company would fund out of state abortions for its employees. While “the company does not take political stands” in normal circumstances CEO Shah Dubey said, “I personally, as a woman in Texas could not keep silent.”
Dubey, who immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago, said: “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.”
The law, which applies even in cases of rape and incest, is enforceable by Texan courts with a $10,000 fine for anyone involved in helping to procure an abortion.
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