(Headline USA) The chief executive of Tinder-owner Match Group has sharply criticized the new law prohibiting most abortions in Texas and says she is setting up a fund to help any Texas-based employees who need to seek an abortion outside the state.
Rival dating app Bumble also criticized the law and announced on Instagram it will donate funds to six organizations that support abortion.
Both companies, which market themselves as online dating apps but function as platforms for anonymous sex, are based in Texas and led by women.
Dallas-based Match Group said CEO Shar Dubey is creating the fund on her own and not through the company.
She spoke out against the law in a memo to employees Thursday.
“I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say, as a Texas resident, 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,” Dubey said in the memo.
Dubey said her fund would help cover any additional costs incurred by Match Group employees if they need to travel outside the state to seek an abortion.
Her statement came after Austin-based Bumble, which is led by CEO Whitney Wolfe, spoke out against the law on social media.
“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 said on Twitter.
The Texas law, which took effect Tuesday after the Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal from abortion providers, bans abortions once medical professionals can detect the baby’s heartbeat, usually around six weeks.
Rather than be enforced by government authorities, the law gives citizens the right to file civil suits and collect damages against anyone aiding an abortion.
It does not make exceptions for rape or incest.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.
