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Netflix, Sony & More Big Studios Offer Support After Roe v. Wade Decision
Following the announcement of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, many big studios (including Netflix and Disney) have responded by supporting the reproductive health needs of their staff. Roe v. Wade is a landmark decision that was made by the Supreme Court in 1973. The case asserted that abortion fell under the heading of the "right to privacy," which is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. For 50 years, this decision has made abortion legal at the federal level. However, many states run by conservative legislations have taken steps to make the process challenging and costly in an attempt to prevent abortions from taking place.
Now, the tides have changed as the Supreme Court has officially released the decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision as a part of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This new development was leaked to the press in the form of a draft decision in early May, but now the decision has been made official. This means that abortion is no longer a federally protected right, giving individual states the ability to decide whether or not to ban abortion. It is expected that nearly 50% of states will take advantage of this decision to restrict or outright ban abortion in the coming months.
Puck News co-founder Matthew Belloni has taken to Twitter to report on the immediate response that many big studios have taken to the official announcement of the Supreme Court's decision. He has revealed that "major entertainment companies are already saying they will pay for employees in red states to travel for abortions." The companies that are offering reimbursement for travel expenses include Amazon, Netflix, Comcast, Warner Bros., Discovery, Sony, and Paramount Global. He was also able to share an internal memo from Paramount detailing their policies on lactation support and parental leave. An hour after his original Tweet, he was able to report that Disney has joined in with their own reimbursement policies. Read Matthew's Tweets below:
The quick action from Disney is a step in the right direction in providing employee support after the company was mired in controversy earlier this year over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. Disney CEO Bob Chapek landed himself in hot water with his silence on Florida's controversial piece of legislation after the company was discovered to be supporting state politicians who backed the bill. This inaction resulted in employee walkouts, so even though the company was slower to act than some of its peers, it makes sense that they would make such an open display of support sooner rather than later.
Netflix is likely also seeking to provide open support for its employees after the company has dealt with its own controversies throughout this year, namely numerous layoffs that have swept the streamer. With Netflix and these other studios having billions of dollars at their disposal (and laws like these sweeping the nation), it's important that they provide the support that their employees need. Of course, it should go beyond that, as these companies have the sway to impact legislation like this. This should be just the first step in the kinds of actions they can take in supporting their employees and others affected by this legislation during this time.
