Why the C.E.O. Behind Match.com and Tinder Took a Stand on the Texas Abortion Law
This week, Chris Messina, the chief executive officer of Match.com and a longtime advocate for conservative causes, filed an amicus brief in support of a Texas law known as HB2 that, among other things, requires abortion clinics to meet strict health and safety standards, which have forced many to close throughout the law’s more than two years in force.
On Wednesday, Messina spoke out against the state’s law, which, as The Daily Dot reported, was passed after the state’s abortion clinics sued the state for its unconstitutionality. He explained that he and his company have not been supporting the law, since it doesn’t allow people to seek out abortions, only that they not have to pay out of pocket for them.
“For someone who has had a personal experience of having to have an abortion, and is not a medical doctor, to come out and say that you’re morally obligated to pay for that kind of abortion, it makes no sense,” he said, adding that people have the right to choose whether they want to have an abortion. “And then to just say that the government is going to force you by law to pay for that? It’s immoral.”
Messina also called on people to read up on the issue. While many of the arguments in support of the pro-abortion law have been debated in the news media, the debate over it doesn’t seem to have affected the public opinion of it. However, Messina told The Daily Dot that people need to look beyond the headlines, and actually read the law.
“There’s a lot of media coverage out there about this law, but what you don’t usually see is people talking about the law,” he said. “If you look at the law, it’s a lot of very specific things that are being said.”
Messina cited several examples of the law that make it
