Salesforce has told its employees that if they are concerned about the ability to access reproductive care following the enactment of Texas’s anti-abortion law, the company will help them relocate.
“These are incredibly personal issues that directly impact many of us — especially women,” Salesforce told employees in a Slack message, as reported by CNBC. “We recognise and respect that we all have deeply held and different perspectives. As a company, we stand with all of our women at Salesforce and everywhere.”
“With that being said, if you have concerns about access to reproductive healthcare in your state, Salesforce will help relocate you and members of your immediate family,” the message continued.
Around 2,000 of Salesforce’s 56,000 employees work in Texas, and CEO Marc Benioff added on Twitter “Ohana if you want to move we’ll help you exit TX. Your choice.” Ohana is a Hawaiian term that means family.
The state of Texas passed Senate Bill 8 in May which came into effect in September. It states that doctors cannot carry out an abortion after the detection of embryonic cardiac activity, at around six weeks, except in medical emergencies. It also allows ordinary citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who aids or abets abortions after the detection of a heartbeat.
Ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber have said that they will cover the legal costs of any drivers who transport women to or from abortion procedures, while GoDaddy terminated services for the owner of an anti-abortion website that allowed people to report suspected abortions in the state, as reported by Reuters.
While talking about the abortion law, Texas governor Greg Abbott also told CNBC that he “frequently” talks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, saying that Musk tells him “he likes the social policies in the state of Texas”. This caused Musk to state in a tweet that he believes “government should rarely impose its will upon the people” but that he “would prefer to stay out of politics”.
Last week, the city of Taylor in Texas approved a resolution to offer Samsung several economic development incentives, such as property tax breaks, if it chooses to establish its new $17 billion chip plant in the area. Samsung is considering various locations in New York, Arizona, and Texas for the plant, which is why the city is trying to attract the chip giant with a grant equivalent to 92.5% of assessed property tax for 10 years.
