Austin's Bumble creates relief fund to help those seeking abortions as restrictive Texas law takes hold

Austin-based Bumble — no stranger to taking political stands — is creating a relief fund to support reproductive rights and to help people seeking abortions in Texas. 

A company spokesperson said the money will go towards partner organizations dedicated to protecting reproductive rights. 

“Bumble is women-founded and women-led, and from day one we’ve stood up for the most vulnerable. We’ll keep fighting against regressive laws like #SB8,” the company said in a tweet. 

A new Texas abortion law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May — Senate Bill 8 — went into effect Wednesday and bans most abortions in the state. It's the most restrictive such law in the nation, prohibiting abortions as early as the sixth week of pregnancy before most people know they are pregnant.

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The law, which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block late Wednesday, allows “any person” to file a civil lawsuit against anyone who provides an abortion or "aids and abets" an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur at six weeks. A successful plaintiff could receive at least $10,000 from the provider or others.

Bumble operates two apps — Bumble and Badoo — that have over 40 million users on a monthly basis. The company's namesake app started as a dating app and has since grown to be a women-centric social networking platform in which only women can initiate a conversation or contact.

In addition to tweeting about the new relief fund, the company also mentioned its plans to support abortion rights in an Instagram post and suggested organizations and efforts people can donate to, such as the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Brigid Alliance, Repro Legal Defense Fund, Lilith Fund, Fund Texas Choice and Frontera Fund. Bumble said its own fund will be raised internally — rather than from outside donors — and go to those same organizations.

A Bumble spokesperson said the company is working with partner organizations dedicated to protecting reproductive rights that were chosen "because their mission and values align with ours and they have a history of fighting for reproductive rights and the rights of women." 

The spokesperson said there's no targeted amount that the company will be putting towards the fund, and that it would be ongoing. The spokesperson said only the chosen organizations will have access to the funds, and any individuals looking for support should contact one of the organizations listed in the post.

Shar Dubey, CEO of Dallas-based Match Group, which operates dating websites and apps including Match.com, Tinder and Plenty of Fish has also set up a fund to help employees and their dependents seeking abortion care in other states the Dallas Morning News reported. 

In an internal memo to employees, the CEO said that, as a woman and mother, she felt compelled to speak publicly on her views because she considers the law regressive to women's rights. 

"The company generally does not take political stands unless it is relevant to our business. But in this instance, I personally, as a woman in Texas, could not keep silent and have made this statement that you might see covered over the next few days," she said.

Some other businesses in Austin also were joining the effort. Sugar Mama's Bakeshop said on Facebook that it planned to donate proceeds from some cookie sales to groups fighting for abortion rights.

"We believe reproductive rights are human rights," the bakeshop said in its post. "We will not stand by and do nothing while being stripped of these rights."

Austin-based Bumble has not been one to shy away from politics in the past — especially when it comes to issues that affect women. 

In 2018, the company published a full-page ad in the New York Times, that said:  “Believe Women,” in Bumble’s signature yellow color, the day after Christine Blasey Ford testified against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, the company also said it would donate $25,000 to the Rape, Assault, and Incest National Network to help survivors of sexual violence. 

In 2019, Bumble pushed for a Texas bill that would criminalize the sending of unsolicited nude or sexual photos. The resulting bill makes sending a lewd photo without the consent of the recipient punishable by a fine up to $500. Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd testified in support of the bill. 

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“We’re proud to have played a part in bringing standards of conduct on the internet closer in line with our standards of behavior in the real world. If it wouldn’t fly walking down the street — or at the office, or in the classroom — it shouldn’t be tolerated in your inbox!” the company said in a 2019 statement. At the time, Bumble also pledged to bring the legislation to states beyond Texas. 

In 2020, the company-sponsored SB 53 in California, also known as the FLASH (Forbid Lewd Activity and Sexual Harassment) Act. If passed the bill would establish protections for technology users who receive sexually explicit images or are cyber flashed, and would make sending lewd or sexually explicit material without explicit consent from the recipient punishable with a first-time fine of $250 and a subsequent fine of $500 for each additional offense. Bumble also started pushing for a similar bill in January in New York. 

The company has also added in-app features in recent years designed to keep users safer, including photo verification, and a "private detector" which blurs lewd images, and it has banned photos of guns and weapons as well as hate speech in its own apps. 

Bumble has grown rapidly amid the pandemic, and the company went public earlier this year, raising $2.5 billion upon its entry into the stock market, the largest initial public offering ever by an Austin company. In a securities filing, Wolfe Herd, who is one of few female founders to take a company public, said Bumble has the potential to become a "preeminent global woman's brand."

"We look forward to building the future of love, friendship, networking, and community as we chip away at archaic gender dynamics and make the internet a kinder, and more accountable place. I want to thank the remarkable women who paved the way for Bumble by supporting and championing each other; we can break down barriers for the next generation of women and other marginalized communities," Wolfe Herd said in a February statement. 

Meanwhile, Abbott said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that the state's new abortion law won't affect the Texas business climate. He said plenty of businesses and Americans were in favor of the social positions taken by the Texas Legislature, contending that businesses also were choosing the state because of its low-tax policies.

"People vote with their feet," Abbott said. "This is not slowing down businesses coming to the state of Texas. It is accelerating the process of businesses coming to Texas."