After more than a thousand models rallied behind some of the world’s most popular shows to demand specific studio-wide abortion safety protocols, those studios responded with a collective response Wednesday evening. The letter seeks to reassure those responsible for the show that they share the same interests, but it does not address the specific demands sought by the exhibitors. It also ignores the call to stop donations to anti-choice politicians.
However, the response came within the exhibitors’ deadline for an answer, which is 11:59 PM PST on August 10.
On July 28, 411 TV show creators and presenters sent individual letters to studios outlining four demands for specific safety protocols being put in place for pregnant employees in states where abortion has been banned, or will soon be. Showrunners want systems in place to ensure safe, funded, and private travel for an employee seeking an abortion; They want protocols for taking care of “ectopic pregnancy and other pregnancy complications” during production; They want guaranteed guarantees “with respect to legal criminal and civil protection” for those who assist a female employee with an abortion.
The letters also called on companies to “immediately cease all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees.” It gave the exhibitor group – which includes Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Natasha Lyonne, Mindy Kaling and many others – 10 working days from its release date.
These messages were followed up on August 1st by 594 male modelers who issued a statement of support, writing, “Abortion access doesn’t just affect people who can become pregnant. It affects all of us.” The letters of the men were issued by reply – all to the first letters.
These demands from the creative community were instigated by Dobbs’ June 24 Supreme Court ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively ending federal protections for abortion access.
The studios response is consistent with individual union health plans, noting that “many of these industry health plans have already adopted amendments to provide for reimbursement for travel expenses associated with securing abortion services for participants and their families who reside or work in states. These services cannot legally be obtained.” “.
He goes on to say that they “continue to evaluate ways we can best provide for our employees and workers who support our production,” which appears to open the door for more protocols to be put in place.
The letter ends – which has been signed by AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, the original recipients of exhibitor pursuits – on a flourishing note: “We look forward to working with you to continue creating great content for our audiences around the world.”
The Alliance of Showmakers kept a publicist who had no comment.
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Thank you for your letter dated July 28, 2022. We share your concerns about the health, safety and well-being of our dedicated employees and the people who support our production. We believe that they should have access to safe and effective healthcare, and their privacy should be protected.
Each individually designed corporate health plan provides comprehensive healthcare coverage for our employees. We’ve independently updated our staff – who live and work across the country – as plans and policies change and expand to provide reproductive care and other support now needed in countries that have restricted or banned abortion.
Most workers in written film and television productions are covered by industrial health plans that are jointly administered by union trustees and management within the framework of collective bargaining. In partnership with several industrial health plan employees and union trustees on those plans, the trustees of our department worked quickly to review existing health benefits, and many of these industrial health plans had already adopted amendments providing for reimbursement of travel expenses associated with providing abortion services to participants and their families who reside or work in States where such services cannot be obtained legally. We understand that other industry health plans will consider similar changes this month. Participants in the various industry plans have received direct communications from the plans about these modifications.
We are pleased that our industry partners have swiftly addressed this important issue and are committed to continuing to evaluate ways we can best provide for our employees and workers who support our productions.
We want to assure you that we are singularly focused on supporting the health, safety, welfare and privacy of our respective employees and those who support our production while we continue to monitor this evolving situation. We look forward to working with you to continue delivering great content to our audiences around the world.
Occurred,
AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery
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