Prime TV Writers Demand Security Protocols in Anti-Abortion States

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On Thursday morning, a collective of greater than 400 tv creators and showrunners despatched a letter to top-level executives at Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Common, Apple and extra, demanding particular protocols to guard pregnant workers in states the place abortion is outlawed.

The letter, obtained by Selection, is signed by A-list expertise resembling Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Natasha Lyonne, Ava DuVernay and lots of extra. It places the U.S.’s largest content material creators on discover that the businesses want to stipulate particular protections for these working in states which have outlawed abortion within the wake of the Supreme Courtroom’s Dobbs resolution, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

“It’s unacceptable to ask any individual to decide on between their human rights and their employment,” the letter reads partly.

The letter escalates the vexed difficulty of what corporations resembling Netflix and Disney ought to do with productions in states with anti-abortion laws that were triggered by Dobbs, resembling Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. The writers are demanding printed insurance policies for the way the businesses will subsidize workers’ journey to acquire abortions, in addition to how worker privateness will likely be protected. They need protocols for medical look after “ectopic pregnancies and different being pregnant problems that require medical therapy.” They’re demanding prison and civil indemnification for anybody serving to an worker receive an abortion.

And so they need all the corporations to cease “all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political motion committees instantly.”

The writers are demanding written responses from the businesses inside 10 days of July 28, when the letters have been despatched out. The letter stopped in need of saying what is going to occur if these corporations don’t adjust to the calls for, however any potential boycotts from high expertise would certainly spell catastrophe.

A number of studios, led by Netflix, mentioned in 2019 that they might rethink filming in Georgia — the main state for movie tax incentives — if the state’s “heartbeat” abortion ban took impact. Citing the Dobbs ruling, a federal appeals court docket final week lifted the injunction towards the regulation. To date, the studios have mentioned solely that they might reimburse journey bills for workers pressured to go away the state to acquire an abortion.

The complete letter — this specific one is to Netflix — and its signatories is under. The letter additionally was despatched to Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon and AMC.

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We, the undersigned, are 411 present creators, showrunners and head writers who at the moment work throughout each community and streaming platform within the trade right now, together with these managed by Netflix.

Now we have grave considerations concerning the lack of particular manufacturing protocols in place to guard these at work for Netflix in anti-abortion states.

It’s unacceptable to ask any individual to decide on between their human rights and their employment. This case raises fundamental issues of equality, well being, and security within the office. Many people wouldn’t have the careers and households we now have right now if we had not been granted the liberty to decide on what was finest for ourselves. We’re dedicated, as a bunch, to defending our basic human rights and people of our colleagues.

At the moment, any pregnant individual engaged on one in all your productions in states which have criminalized abortion does so at nice threat. It’s important that Netflix understands these dangers and has complete options in place. The aim of this letter is to evaluate your present security protocols and protections on this important matter to find out whether or not or not we’ll proceed to work in these excessive threat environments.

Inside ten enterprise days of right now we require evaluate of your present abortion security plan detailing Netflix’s insurance policies and processes to make sure our security, shield our well being and defend our human rights. We anticipate that the specifics of your present plan tackle this emergency in full, together with however not restricted to:

● Revealed insurance policies and procedures to offer an abortion journey subsidy for workers of your productions together with particular data on how the worker’s medical privateness will likely be safeguarded.
● Protocols outlining the scope of medical care for workers of your productions, together with ectopic pregnancies and different being pregnant problems that require medical therapy by way of abortion whereas working for Netflix.
● Coverage relating to prison and civil authorized safety, together with indemnification and protection towards legal responsibility, for any member of a manufacturing who facilitates Netflix’s protocols or supplies Netflix’s coverage data and tips to an worker looking for an abortion.
● Pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political motion committees instantly.

As productions are at the moment in progress in states the place abortion is illegitimate or pending criminalization, your quick written response is required and anticipated inside ten enterprise days of July twenty eighth, 2022. We additionally welcome the chance to evaluate the written response along with your firm representatives for extra context do you have to want. Our evaluate will likely be carried out by the undersigned and our authorized representatives.

Signed,

Megan Abbott
Diane Ademu-John
Ali Adler
Pamela Adlon
Abby Ajayi
Desiree Akhavan
Zakiyyah Alexander
Bisha Ok. Ali
Gabrielle Allan
Kayla Alpert
Sofia Alvarez
Jane Anderson
Lucia Aniello
Amy Aniobi
Valerie Armstrong
Nicole Jefferson Asher
Michelle Ashford
Liz Astrof
Meredith Averill
Rachel Axler
Annie Baker
Gemma Baker
Jenna Bans
Carol Barbee
Sara Bareilles
Tanya Barfield
Kate Barnow
Kristen Bartlett
Vanessa Bayer
Nichole Beattie
Monica Beletsky
Lake Bell
Shaz Bennett
Eleanor Bergstein
Julia Bicknell
Jenny Bicks
Jocelyn Bioh
Ashley Nicole Black
Amy Bloom
Rachel Bloom
Andrea Thornton Bolden
Kathryn Borel
Hannah Bos
Rebecca Boss
Yvette Bowser
Christine Boylan
Patricia Breen
Kelli Breslin
Corinne Brinkerhoff
Mara Brock Akil
Aline Brosh McKenna
Jess Brownell
Julia Brownell
Carrie Brownstein
Gemma Burgess
Sarah Burgess
Lila Byock
Jennifer Cacicio
Gloria Calderon Kellett
Wendy Calhoun
Sheila Callaghan
Dana Calvo
Kat Candler
Kay Cannon
Erin Cardillo
Bridget Carpenter
Charise Castro Smith
Ilene Chaiken
Yahlin Chang
Hailey Chavez
Semi Chellas
Cindy Chupack
Zoanne Clack
Eliza Clark
Maisha Closson
Diablo Cody
Anne Cofell Saunders
Leila Cohan
Emily Cook dinner
Akela Cooper
Fernanda Coppel
Elizabeth Craft
Jennifer Crittenden
Aïda Mashaka Croal
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
Whitney Cummings
Alexandra Cunningham
Michelle Dean
Jamie Denbo
Chelsea Devantez
Lydia Diamond
Marnie Dickens
Cara DiPaolo
Katie Dippold
Kiley Donovan
Savannah Dooley
Bash Doran
Karey Dornetto
Caroline Dries
Ariel Dumas
Lena Dunham
Cirocco Dunlap
Ava DuVernay
Laura Eason
Grace Edwards
Kerry Ehrin
Erin Ehrlich
Diane English
Anya Epstein
Maya Erskine
Jane Espenson
Bridget Everett
Sarah Fain
Gina Fattore
Halley Feiffer
Liz Feldman
Nancy Fichman
Hannah Fidell
Debra J. Fisher
Lang Fisher
Anna Fishko
Jennifer Flackett
Liz Flahive
Stephany Folsom
Leah Fong
Claudia Forestieri
Dana Fox
Emily Fox
Anna Fricke
Hannah Friedman
Jena Friedman
Liz Friedman
Maggie Friedman
Kelly Galuska
Sera Gamble
Jessica Gao
Daisy Gardner
Valentina Garza
Leila Gerstein
Melissa James Gibson
Gina Gionfriddo
Karin Gist-Brown
Gracie Glassmeyer
Jessica Goldberg
Sarah Goldfinger
Emily Gordon
Philippa Goslett
Susannah Grant
Tash Grey
Misha Inexperienced
Kathy Greenberg
Sarah Gubbins
Lauren Gussis
Jenny Hagel
Barbara Corridor
Katori Corridor
Jenny Han
Lisa Hanawalt
Chelsea Handler
Liz Hannah
Alma Har’el
Amy B. Harris
Dee Harris-Lawrence
Becky Hartman Edwards
Leslye Headland
Sian Heder
Eileen Heisler
Liz Heldens
DeAnn Heline
Cody Heller
Emily Heller
Felicia D. Henderson
Christal Henry
Tara Herrmann
Sara Hess
Regina Hicks
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Winnie Holzman
A.M. Houses
Karen Leigh Hopkins
Shannon M. Houston
Melinda Hsu Taylor
Soo Hugh
Darlene Hunt
Lauren Iungerich
Our Woman J
Abbi Jacobson
Casey Johnson
Erika L. Johnson
Joanna Johnson
Kathleen Jordan
Alexa Junge
Mindy Kaling
Laeta Kalogridis
Angela Kang
Kourtney Kang
Jenn Kao
Marta Kauffman
Zoe Kazan
Courtney A. Kemp
Nahnatchka Khan
Callie Khouri
Claire Kiechel
Marlene King
Michelle King
Corinne Kingsbury
Laura Kittrell
Julie Klausner
Jenny Klein
Jessi Klein
Erica Shelton Kodish
Jenji Kohan
Anna Konkle
Jenni Konner
Liz Kruger
Sarah Kucserka
Bridget Kyle
Stephanie Laing
Noga Landau
Amanda Lasher
Sheila Lawrence
Janet Leahy
Christina Lee
Younger Jean Lee
Lauren LeFranc
Kasi Lemmons
Jennifer Levin
Chris Levinson
Debbie Liebling
Adele Lim
Erica Lipez
Amy Lippman
Crystal Liu
Kari Lizer
Attica Locke
Melissa London Hilfers
Rachel Caris Love
Jenny Lumet
Ashley Lyle
Natasha Lyonne
Monica Macer
Marguerite MacIntyre
Carina Adly MacKenzie
Jhoni Marchinko
Meg Marinis
Julie Martin
Felischa Marye
Britt Matt
Vanessa McCarthy
Abby McEnany
Shauna McGarry
Colleen McGuinness
Alexandra McNally
Carol Mendelsohn
Carly Mensch
Wendy Mericle
Elizabeth Meriwether
Erica Messer
Molly Smith Metzler
Allison Miller
Rina Mimoun
Arika Lisanne Mittman
Becky Mode
Raamla Mohamed
Lizzie Molyneux
Wendy Molyneux
Jaclyn Moore
Lauren Morelli
LaToya Morgan
Dominique Morisseau
Maggie Mull
Michele Mulroney
Janine Nabers
Margaret Nagle
Tia Napolitano
Daniele Nathanson
Jessie Nelson
Kristin Newman
Lynn Nottage
Marti Noxon
Alissa Nutting
Jami O’Brien
Jessica O’Toole
Dr. Sonya Odamtten
Nkechi Okoro Carroll
Silvia Olivas
Tracy Oliver
Stacy Osei-Kuffour
Monica Owusu-Breen
Jan Oxenberg
Carolina Paiz
Michelle Paradise
Sallie Patrick
Ilana Peña
KC Perry
JJ Philbin
Julie Plec
Daria Polatin
Tracy Poust
Channing Powell
Kate Purdy
Jessica Queller
Issa Rae
Lisa Randolph
Ellen Rapoport
Robia Rashid
Joan Rater
Jacquelyn Reingold
Nicki Renna
Dara Resnik
Shonda Rhimes
Katie Wealthy
Erica Rivinoja
Katie Robbins
Kate Robin
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Marquita Robinson
Dailyn Rodriguez
Jessie Rosen
Melissa Rosenberg
Kim Rosenstock
Sharyn Rothstein
Julie Rottenberg
Amber Ruffin
Marja-Lewis Ryan
Tami Sagher
Erica Saleh
Danielle Sanchez-Witzel
Tanya Saracho
Stephanie Savage
Lorene Scafaria
Beth Schacter
Jac Schaeffer
Robin Schiff
Holly Schlesinger
Sarah Schneider
Ali Schouten-Seeks
Heidi Schreck
Amy Schumer
Jennifer Schuur
Beth Schwartz
Nell Scovell
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
Frankie Shaw
Ranada Shepard
Janine Sherman Barrois
Amy Sherman-Palladino
April Shih
Keto Shimizu
Rachel Shukert
Katie Silberman
Emily Silver
Allison Silverman
Randi Mayem Singer
Francesca Sloane
Alena Smith
Nora Smith
Nicole Snyder
Jennie Snyder Urman
Holly Sorensen
Rachel Specter
Nichelle Tramble Spellman
Emily Spivey
Caissie St. Onge
Jen Statsky
KJ Steinberg
Dana Stevens
Christy Stratton
Veena Sud
Robin Swicord
Maurissa Tancharoen
Desta Tedros Reff
Sierra Teller Ornelas
Robin Thede
Betsy Thomas
Sarah Thompson
Merritt Tierce
Liz Tigelaar
Stacy Traub
Sarah Treem
Liz Tuccillo
Raelle Tucker
Karyn Usher
Noelle Valdivia
Krista Vernoff
Lilly Wachowski
Lena Waithe
Ayelet Waldman
Dahvi Waller
Lulu Wang
Michaela Watkins
Sarah Watson
Audrey Wauchope
Katie Wech
Annie Weisman
Hilary Weisman Graham
Lizzy Weiss
Gina Welch
Lindy West
Diana Whitten
Tracey Wigfield
Tracey Scott
Wilson Anna Winger
Nancy Received
Carly Wray
Wei-Ning Yu
Keisha Zollar
Lilla Zuckerman
Nora Zuckerman
Elisa Zuritsky
Lisa Zwerling