Much like they did in Texas, Lyft and Uber have pledged to cowl drivers sued beneath Oklahoma’s forthcoming SB1503 legislation. The so-called Heartbeat Act prohibits most abortions after six weeks of being pregnant – a timeframe earlier than many ladies know they’re pregnant.
And like its Texas counterpart, SB8, the laws permits non-public people to sue anybody who assists a lady making an attempt to skirt the ban, together with rideshare drivers who face fines of as much as $10,000. The Oklahoma House handed SB1503 on Thursday, and Governor Kevin Stitt is anticipated to signal the invoice someday throughout the subsequent few days.
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On Friday, Lyft CEO Logan Green mentioned the corporate would lengthen its dedication, first introduced in September, to cowl one hundred pc of authorized charges for drivers sued beneath SB8 to incorporate these impacted by SB1503. Additionally, Green mentioned Lyft was working with healthcare suppliers to create a program to cowl the price of rides for out-of-state abortion care. The firm additionally plans to cowl journey prices for insured workers, if these legal guidelines pressure them to journey greater than 100 miles to search out care.
“Women’s access to health care is under attack again, this time in Oklahoma,” Green mentioned on Twitter. “We believe transportation shouldn’t be a barrier to accessing healthcare and it’s our duty to support both our rider and driver communities.” Women’s well being activists
After Green’s tweet, Uber mentioned it could supply comparable protections for drivers. “Like in TX, we intend to cover all legal fees for any driver sued under this law while they’re driving,” a spokesperson for the corporate informed CNBC.