“I shouldn’t be surprised, I am, but I know I shouldn’t be.” This is what a signatory of the July 28 letter from 411 women TV showrunners and creators — in which the collective demanded studios and media companies step up their abortion access protections for employees — said when the studios released their own letter, punting on the subject and offering up nothing but platitudes.
As Deadline reports, Disney, Netflix, AppleTV+, NBCUniversal, Amazon, Warner Bros Discovery, and AMC Networks responded last night, a few hours ahead of the collective’s midnight P.S.T. deadline. Their statement is “full of boiler plate remarks” and ignores the original letter’s demands regarding “matters of privacy, liability indemnification from potential criminal or civil charges,” pregnancy complications, specific medical care protocols, and the end of political donations to anti-choice candidates and PACs. Instead, the companies lean on the fact that they offer “comprehensive health care coverage” that could be updated in the wake of the Dobbs ruling.
Lionsgate, one of the July 28 letter’s addressees, did not sign the statement.
Essentially, the studios’ response boils down to, “We hear you. We understand that abortion access is important to you, apparently. We’re looking forward to doing something about that at some undetermined point in the future, maybe. Now that that’s settled, let’s all get back to work!”
Among its golden nuggets: “We are pleased that our industry partners have quickly addressed this important issue and are committed to continuing to evaluate ways that we can best provide for our employees and workers who support our productions.”
And: “We want to assure you that we are individually focused on supporting the health, safety, well-being, and privacy of our respective employees and those who support our productions as we continue to monitor this evolving situation. We look forward to working with you to continue to make great content for our audiences around the world.”
Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s complete bullshit.
We have to agree with the July 28 signatories that the studios’ statement is “an insult, plain to see,” and “indicative of what’s truly important to them, which isn’t us [employees with uteruses], our safety or rights.” It avoids engaging with the concerns of nearly 1,500 of the industry’s heavy hitters (the signatories and those who are standing with them in solidarity). It’s a reminder that corporations are not our friends.
According to the source, the companies’ shrugging off of the abortion access demands has motivated several signatories to brainstorm other ways they can ensure studio and streaming support. There is hope, considering the recent reproductive rights victory in Kansas, but it’s just as likely that the companies will ultimately do nothing, as has previously been the case.
“Hollywood has decided to stay on the sidelines in Georgia, and with Republicans,” said a filmmaker who signed a statement of support for the showrunners’ demands. “This isn’t over, but now we know who our allies are.”
Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which struck down Roe v. Wade and a person’s federal right to abortion in the U.S., the Writers Guild of America East and West’s health plan added an amendment that will reimburse travel and accommodation expenses for participants and dependents seeking to cross state lines for abortions. The Directors Guild of America, meanwhile, approved a new policy that offers financial aid to union members traveling to another state for an abortion.
In 2019, several media companies spoke out against Georgia’s anti-abortion “heartbeat bill,” and some even suggested they would stop making projects in the state — but those were mostly empty gestures. Reed Morano and Kristen Wiig, however, actually did pull projects that were set to film in Georgia.
