Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade by determining that abortion is not a federally protected right under current laws, industry leaders have spoken out against the decision. The latest is the Directors Guild of America, which issued a statement in strong opposition to the ruling.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a giant step backwards for our country and puts women’s lives at risk,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. “It denies countless women the most basic of their human rights — the right to autonomy over their own bodies. We are committed to making sure our members continue to have access and ability to make their own reproductive decisions and determine the path they set for their own lives. We strongly condemn this ruling and stand in solidarity with so many others speaking out to decry this travesty.”
The DGA also approved a new policy on Friday that will provide financial assistance to guild members seeking to travel across state lines to seek access to abortions. The organization joins Disney, Netflix, United Talent Agency, Amazon, and more entertainment companies and organizations in offering to financially assist employees who need abortions in states where the procedure may soon become illegal.
“As threats against women’s reproductive rights grow, we’re introducing an important new benefit,” United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer wrote in an internal memo. “We’re doing this to support the right to choose that has been a bedrock of settled law for almost half a century.”
Disney executives echoed a similar sentiment to their employees in an internal email on Friday.
“We have processes in place so that an employee who may be unable to access care in one location has affordable coverage for receiving similar levels of care in another location. This travel benefit covers medical situations related to cancer treatments, transplants, rare disease treatment and family planning (including pregnancy-related decisions),” wrote Disney Chief Human Resources Officer Paul Richardson and Vice President of Enterprise Benefits and Well-Being Pascale Thomas.
See more reactions to today’s ruling from Hollywood here.
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