Elon Musk has refused to take sides in the Texas abortion battle after its governor claimed the billionaire liked the state’s social policies.
The Tesla CEO refused to comment directly on the recently enacted abortion law, after being dragged into the debate by Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The politician appeared on CNBC and said that companies should not quit the state because of the controversial new law, which bans abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, which is normally around six weeks, often before women realise they are pregnant.
“Elon had to get out of California because in part of the social policies in California. Elon consistently tells me that he likes the social policies in the state of Texas,” claimed Mr Abbott.
Mr Musk moved from California to Texas last year, where he is building a massive factory to produce electric vehicles and where SpaceX is developing rockets.
The entrepreneur took to Twitter to comment and retweeted a clip of Mr Abbott’s interview.
“In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness,” he tweeted.
“That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics.”
The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority upheld the Texas abortion law, stripping women of the rights to one in most cases in the second largest state in the country.
The court majority claimed it was not ruling on the issues in the case, but refused to block it from going into law.
Following the landmark Roe v Wade case the Supreme Court has consistently upheld the right of women to terminate pregnancies prior to the foetus being able to survive outside the womb, which is generally between 22 and 24 weeks.
The new Texas law makes no exception for rape or incest, but there is an exception for medical emergencies.
Mr Musk in 2020 gave $2,800 donations to three anti-abortion Republicans and four pro-abortion rights Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks political contributions.
