Major studios like Netflix, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. “share concerns” about America’s new abortion laws. Women from the American television world have sent fire letters to all major studios asking for guarantees and protocols for pregnant female employees in states that have recently banned abortion.
AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Lionsgate at the address did not respond.
Among the signatories are prominent producers and showrunners such as Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Natasha Lyonne and Ava DuVernay. The US Supreme Court recently ruled that abortion is not a national right for women. States can decide for themselves whether women can still have abortions. The signatories want major studios to guarantee that workers in these states receive financial assistance to travel to places where they can have abortions. They also want studios to establish protocols about what happens if an abortion leads to medical complications or other complications.
“We are all alerting our own employees — who live and work across the country — to policy changes and expanding care and support measures in states where abortion is prohibited or restricted,” the studios wrote. According to them, most employees come under the general terms of trade unions. “Working with health facility workers and the union, we quickly reviewed the costs of abortion travel, not only for employees, but also for their families who live or work in states where they cannot legally obtain such services.”
