ATLANTA — While the Hollywood uproar to Georgia’s newly signed abortion bill has been limited to mostly lesser known stars and small production companies, one of Hollywood’s biggest names has now entered the controversy. Oscar-winning director Ron Howard said he would boycott Georgia if the state’s so-called Heartbeat Bill goes into effect next year.
Howard told The Hollywood Reporter that Imagine Entertainment, which he heads along with Brian Grazer, will continue with its current, Amy Adams-starring film, Hillbilly Elegy, scheduled for next month. “We felt we could not abandon the hundreds of women, and men, whose means of support depend on this production – including those who directly contribute on the film, and the businesses in the community that sustain the production, Howard said. “We see Gov. Kemp’s bill as a direct attack on women’s rights, and we will be making a donation to the ACLU to support their battle against this oppressive legislation. Should this law go into effect in January, we will boycott the state as a production center.”
The bill, authored by a suburban Atlanta Republican lawmaker, outlaws most abortions after about six weeks, which is when a fetal heartbeat is usually first detected. It would allow abortions in cases where the mother’s life or health is in danger, or in cases of medical emergency. It also says an unborn child at any stage of development in the womb would be included in state population-based counts.
Until now, no film or production company now doing business in Georgia has announced they are ceasing any projects in the wake of the new law. Alyssa Milano, herself one of the bill’s strongest opponents, is still filming the Netflix series “Insatiable” in Georgia because, she told BuzzFeed News, she is contractually obligated to do so.
Hollywood executive JJ Abrams and his company, Bad Robot, along with Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions, are filming an upcoming HBO series in Georgia. The companies are donating all proceeds from “Lovecraft Country” to Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams’ organization, Fair Fight Georgia, and the ACLU of Georgia.
Alabama recently passed a stricter abortion bill than Georgia’s, outlawing abortions in almost all circumstances. On Sunday, President Donald Trump implored anti-abortion activists to stay united for the 2020 election. Trump says gains by anti-abortion activists will “rapidly disappear” if, as he put it in a tweet, “we are foolish and do not stay UNITED as one.”
Without mentioning Alabama’s law, Trump said he supports the right to an abortion when rape or incest is involved or when the life of the woman is stake. Those exceptions to abortion bans are also accepted by many anti-abortion social conservatives, who are an important constituency for Trump.
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