Following last June’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a group of more than 400 female, trans and nonbinary showrunners leapt into action. They demanded protection for the pregnant employees of productions made in abortion-hostile nations by writing letters to nine major streaming platforms and studios.
The coalition grew rapidly as additional creators, showrunners, and directors joined in the efforts to establish safety protocols and advocate access to reproductive healthcare in Hollywood. Shonda Rhimes (Ryan Murphy), Donald Glover, Natasha Lyonne and Issa Raie were among the A-listers that spoke out.
“In a sense, it was a way to channel all the anger and despair that is a natural result of having a profoundly important human right taken away,”One of the showrunners involved stated that. (The showrunner chose anonymity to avoid drawing attention towards any particular members of the coalition. “In this job, you have a profound responsibility for people, for their health, for their welfare, for their professional lives, for their emotional states, for their creative impulse. Recognizing that responsibility and being willing to protect the people who rely on you is a really important part of this job. I think those who have been in that position just felt like we had no choice but to engage in the coalition.”
This group, which now includes more than 1,500 people, has raised $3 million to support the National Network of Abortion Funds. When a consortium of the studios — which includes AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery — responded to the letter in vague terms without addressing any specific demands, the showrunner group hit back with a second letter that more clearly delineated the dangers pregnant women face in abortion-hostile states, this time sent directly to studio heads.
Many studios have already pledged to collaborate with the coalition to create a 24/7 Reproductive Health Safety Hotline, as well to provide employee protections in places like Texas, Georgia, and Alabama that restrict abortion access. (In August, Lionsgate, although it was not one of the studios that the group reached out, promised to require new policies and protect employees from abortion care.
Going forward, coalition members said they will remain focused on holding studios accountable for the commitments they’ve made. They also see the rough road ahead. “It’s incredibly complicated. And that’s one of the reasons that we have never said, ‘We can come up with an answer,’”The showrunner stated. “The answer may well be that there is no way to keep cast crew staff, other individuals safe in an abortion-hostile state.”
That’s a bleak possibility, to be sure. But it won’t deter the 1,500 people devoted to ensuring reproductive rights. In a full page ad in Variety, they stated the same. Last month, “This is not the last you will hear from us.”
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