Lyft, Uber to pay legal fees for drivers sued under Texas abortion ban

AUSTIN, TEXAS —
Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. will cover all legal fees for the ride-hail companies’ drivers sued under a new Texas law imposing a near-total ban on abortion, the companies’ chief executives said on Friday.

Lyft will also donate $1 million to women’s health provider Planned Parenthood, Green said on Twitter.

“This is an attack on women’s access to healthcare and on their right to choose,” Green said of the new Texas law.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted in response to Green’s announcement that his company would cover drivers’ legal fees in the same way, thanking Green for taking the initiative.

The ban, which took effect early Wednesday, leaves enforcement up to individual citizens, enabling them to sue anyone who provides or “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks. This potentially includes drivers who unknowingly take women to clinics for abortion procedures.

Citizens who win such lawsuits would be entitled to at least $10,000.

Abortion providers say the law could lead to hundreds of costly lawsuits that would be logistically difficult to defend.

On Wednesday, Tinder-owner Match Group’s CEO and rival dating platform Bumble Inc. said they were setting up funds to help Texas-based employees seeking abortion care outside the state.

(Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas; Editing by Richard Chang and Rosalba O’Brien)