NEW YORK – The chief executive of Match Group, owner of Tinder, has strongly criticized the new law banning most abortions in Texas and said it is setting up a fund to help all Texas-based employees who need to get it done abortion out of state.
Rival dating app Bumble also criticized the law and announced on Instagram that it would donate funds to six organizations that support women’s reproductive rights.
Both companies are based in Texas and run by women.
Dallas-based Match Group said CEO Shar Dubey was setting up the fund on her own, not through the company. She spoke out against the law in a memo to employees on Thursday.
“I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say that as a resident of Texas I am shocked to now live in a state where female reproductive laws are more regressive than most countries in the world, including India,” Dubey said in the note.
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Dubey said her fund would help cover any additional costs incurred by Match Group employees if they had to travel out of state for abortions.
His statement came after Austin-based Bumble, run by CEO Whitney Wolfe, spoke out against the social media law.
“Bumble is a company founded and led by women, and from day one we have stood up for the most vulnerable. We will continue to fight against regressive laws like #SB8,” Bumble said on Twitter.
The Texas law, which went into effect Tuesday after the Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by abortion providers, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect heart activity, usually about six weeks and often before women know they are pregnant.
Rather than being enforced by government authorities, the law gives citizens the right to sue civilly and collect damages from anyone assisting in an abortion. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest.
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The law is the biggest curb on the constitutional right to abortion in decades.
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