Salesforce (CRM) announced that it will help its employees and their families leave Texas after the state passed the country’s strictest abortion law.
The cloud computing company told its 56,000 employees in a Slack (WORK) message obtained by CNBC that they “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 Slack message said.
In the statement, Salesforce did not take a position on Senate Bill 8. There are 16 locations in the United States, including one in Dallas.
The Texas law, which makes it illegal for abortion providers to perform abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, effectively prohibits the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. (While the procedure is legal under current federal law, many states impose restrictions, such as waiting periods or a prohibition after a woman has been pregnant for 20 weeks.)
After the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court declined to rule on attempts to block the law, it went into effect on September 1. According to opponents, it effectively outlaws at least 85 percent of abortions sought in the state.
It also punishes anyone who “aides or abets” a restricted abortion, not just medical providers. Healthcare providers, family and friends, or anyone who transports a person to or from an abortion clinic are all examples.
On Thursday, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas over its abortion law.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, tweeted on Friday night, “Ohana, if you want to leave Texas, we’ll assist you. It is entirely up to you.”
Salesforce and Benioff have long been proponents of social causes and corporate responsibility.
Slack was purchased by Salesforce in December for more than $27 billion. Since then, the stock has risen by more than 6%.
“Business is the best platform for change. My role is to help CEOs see they can change,” Benioff said in an interview earlier.
This isn’t the first time the company has criticized a contentious state law. Salesforce was one of the first companies to speak out against Georgia’s sweeping election bills, which critics claimed were aimed at voter suppression. Salesforce Towers, the company’s regional headquarters with 1,300 employees, is located in Atlanta.
“A person’s right to vote is the foundation of our democracy,” Salesforce tweeted in March after Georgia’s House of Representatives passed a bill requiring voter ID, reducing the time it takes to request absentee ballots, severely restricting early voting access, and even clarifying that no one can offer water to voters in line.
“Georgia H.B. 531 would limit trustworthy, safe & equal access to voting by restricting early voting & eliminating provisional ballots. That’s why Salesforce opposes H.B. 531 as it stands,” the company said.
Corporate America has largely remained silent on the Texas abortion law, despite taking public positions on last summer’s racial justice protests and the restrictive voting laws filed or enacted in various states.
Bumble, a privately held company, and the CEO of the Match Group (MTCH) both announced last week that they were establishing relief funds for people affected by the Texas abortion law.
“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 on Twitter.
