More than 400 women, transgender, and nonbinary TV writers, creators, and showrunners signed an open letter last week to demand abortion protections and safety protocols for pregnant employees from studios filming in anti-abortion states, and it looks like more of their peers are following suit. 594 male showrunners, including J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Donald Glover, Aaron Sorkin, Taika Waititi, and Ryan Murphy, have signed on as allies for abortion rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, per Variety on August 1. The text of the letter is short, standing in solidarity with the previous letter. “Abortion access doesn’t only affect people who can become pregnant,†it concludes. “It affects us all.†Both letters demand safe, funded, and private travel for employees who are seeking an abortion in states where it is outlawed. It was sent “replying all†to the same executives as the first at companies like Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Apple, NBC Universal, Amazon, Lionsgate, and AMC.
The original letter, signed by women, trans people, and nonbinary individuals, including Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, and Lilly Wachowski, demanded a response from the executives within ten days of receiving the letter on July 28, 2022. Companies like Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Disney, Netflix, Comcast/NBC Universal, and Sony have policies where travel would be reimbursed for full-time staff for medical services and procedures, including abortions. However, as of August 1, none of the companies listed have responded publicly to the letter.