New legislation in Texas bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and threatens legal repercussions for those who can help with the procedure, including car-sharing drivers. On Friday, Uber and Lyft said they will cover the legal fees of drivers sued for driving passengers to prohibited health procedures.
“This law is inconsistent with people’s basic privacy rights, our community guidelines, the spirit of car sharing, and our values as a company,” Lyft co-founders and general counsel said in a statement.
The car-sharing company has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund that will cover all legal fees of drivers sued under Texas abortion law while using their platform. Lyft also said it will donate $ 1 million to Planned Parenthood “to help ensure transportation is never a barrier to access to health care.”
The law, which is the more restrictive The measure on abortion in the nation, went into effect this week and allows private citizens to sue anyone who “participates in conduct that helps or incites the performance or incitement to an abortion.” Under the legislation, drivers who share vehicles driving passengers in their abortion procedures could receive fines in excess of $ 10,000.
Lyft described the law as “an attack on women’s right to choose.”
“Imagine being a pregnant woman trying to get to a health appointment and not knowing if your driver will cancel you for fear of breaking a law,” Lyft said.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said her company will also follow suit and “cover legal expenses in the same way” as Lyft.
“Drivers should not be endangered to take people wherever they want,” Khosrowshahi said dit on Twitter Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week promised adopt legislation that enshrines the right to abortion in federal law. He called the Supreme Court’s refusal to block Texas law a “cowardly, dark decision to defend a blatantly unconstitutional attack on women’s rights and health.”