Nearly 600 male Hollywood producers showrunners have signed a letter to executives at Hollywood studios demanding that abortion “safety protocols” be put in place for pregnant employees in pro-life states.
Last week, 411 female TV creators and showrunners sent similar letters to Hollywood executives in response to the U.S. Supreme Court recently overruling Roe v. Wade, creating concern among women who may want to kill their unborn children, but are living in pro-life states.
Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Natasha Lyonne, Ava DuVernay, Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Pamela Adlon were among the more than 400 signatories.
After the letter was sent, some readers demanded to know why male showrunners did not also sign the letter.
On Monday, 594 men — including Taika Waititi, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Greg Berlanti, Donald Glover, Aaron Sorkin, David E. Kelley, s and Ryan Murphy — sent similar letters to the same companies.
In the letter, the men reportedly say that they stand with their “female, trans & non-binary showrunner colleagues in demanding a response from our employers regarding the imminent crisis” at hand.
The message was sent by simply clicking “reply all” to the first letter. Executives at Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Apple, NBC Universal, Amazon, Lionsgate, and AMC all received the letter.
In their letter, the showrunners demand the companies respond by August 10, explaining how they plan to implement abortion protocols in pro-life states. They also deem the issue an “emergency” for employees who live in states like Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
The showrunners claim demand that systems be put in place to ensure funding and private travel for employees seeking to kill their unborn children, as well as guarantying safeguards “regarding criminal and civil legal protection” for those who help a woman get an abortion.
The letters have also called for the companies to “discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.”
These demands by the hundreds of showrunners are just the latest in a laundry list of members of Hollywood, who have been exhibiting a public meltdown ever since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, holding in the Dobbs case that the Constitution does not include a right to abortion, returning abortion laws to state legislatures.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.