Following the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Mississippi, which is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, a number of large corporations announced they will fund employee travel for out-of-state abortions. Texas, along with a number of other states, has a trigger law in place that will outlaw abortion in the state if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court.
Last year, Texas passed a monumental pro-life bill, the Heartbeat Act. The Heartbeat Act prohibits abortions from the time a child’s heartbeat is detected; however, the bill does not protect a child in the first few weeks of his or her life. Nevertheless, the Heartbeat Act has been inundated with legal challenges and raged against by the Biden administration and the pro-abortion mob.
Reportedly, the Heartbeat Act has saved the lives of more than 20,000 Texans since its enactment last year. However, with the possible overruling of Roe v. Wade, upwards of 50,000 Texans could be saved from abortion by the trigger law after the official Supreme Court ruling.
The pro-abortion mob is currently protesting, vandalizing, and threatening justices over the future of abortion, all while big corporations virtue signal to the mob that no matter the decision of the Supreme Court and protections enacted in red states, they will pay for employees’ abortions.
Taxpayer-funded Abortions?
Corporations such as Microsoft and Apple, which have received nearly $4.9 million and $25 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund respectively, have announced that they will fund employee travel to access abortions.
The Texas Enterprise Fund is a slush fund of taxpayer cash that the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the House use for exclusive agreements with businesses.
Meanwhile, Tesla and Amazon, both of which receive millions of dollars in tax breaks, also offered to cover employees’ travel costs for out-of-state abortions.
Texas Officials React
State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park), one of the authors of the Heartbeat Act, called out Tesla and Elon Musk for funding abortion-related travel.
Dear Elon Musk,
If Tesla is paying for employees to travel outside of Texas to get abortions, please put an end to the practice.
Texas would be happy to have Tesla’s headquarters located here, but not if Tesla is helping kill babies and hurt women. pic.twitter.com/tu74Xk2RLS— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 (@BriscoeCain) May 11, 2022
Meanwhile, Texas’ top officials have been silent on their corporate welfare programs funding abortion travel. While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced his support for an overturning of Roe v. Wade, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has been conspicuously silent on the matter.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Texas Democrats including gubernatorial candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke and both Lt. Gov. candidates (Michelle Beckley and Mike Collier) expressed their unfettered support for abortion.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to begin announcing opinions next Monday, perhaps including the opinion in Dobbs v. Mississippi, which could bring an end to this precarious state of affairs.
