Lyft and Uber announced their plans to cover the legal fees of ride-share drivers sued under S.B. 8, a controversial Texas law enacted on Sep. 1 that introduces new restrictions on abortion, including a provision that allows someone to be sued if they help anyone violate the new rules.
The law has been widely criticized since its introduction. President Joe Biden said that S.B. 8 is unconstitutional, American Medical Association President Dr. Gerald Harmon called it “a direct attack on the practice of medicine,” and Planned Parenthood has challenged the law in court.
The provision allowing someone to be sued for “aiding and abetting” an abortion is of particular concern to ride-share drivers. AMA explained that S.B. 8 “would allow plaintiffs to collect a minimum of $10,000 for each abortion challenged.” That’s a significant amount for a gig worker.
But it seems the drivers won’t have to pay those fees. Lyft announced that it “has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform,” and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that his company will do the same.
“We want to be clear: Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why,” Lyft said. “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.”
