Ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber have taken action to pay any legal fees for drivers in Texas who are sued for transporting women to abortion clinics.
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In a statement Friday, Lyft says they are planning to action in order to support their drivers who may be subjected to prosecution based on Texas’ six-week abortion ban law. Their statement reads, “We want to be clear: Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why. Imagine being a driver and not knowing if you are breaking the law by giving someone a ride. Similarly, riders never have to justify, or even share, where they are going and why. Imagine being a pregnant woman trying to get to a healthcare appointment and not knowing if your driver will cancel on you for fear of breaking a law. Both are completely unacceptable.”
On his official Twitter page, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said they will be following Lyft on supporting their drivers. “Drivers shouldn’t be put at risk for getting people where they want to go. Team @Uber is in too and will cover legal fees in the same way. Thanks for the push,” he wrote in the tweet.
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Lyft also donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood to support women’s rights and to “help ensure that transportation is never a barrier to healthcare access.”
TX SB8 threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go— especially women exercising their right to choose. @Lyft has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform.
— Logan Green (@logangreen) September 3, 2021
SOURCE: PEOPLE