The entertainment industry is in the forefront of a growing number of entities which intend on banning official travel to Georgia and refusing to do business in that state because of the recent passage of a law by the Georgia General Assembly known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality — or LIFE — Act to become effective as of Wednesday, January 1, 2020. Originally known as the “heartbeat” bill, the new law will ban abortion the very moment a fetal heartbeat can be detected — which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
Are You Avoiding Travel to Georgia Because of the Abortion Law?
Signed by Brian Kemp — who is the current governor of the state of Georgia — doctors and advocates of reproductive rights claim that the law is basically as close to a total ban on the procedure as possible without actually calling it one, because it generally prohibits abortion before many women actually even know that they are pregnant.
The law also includes a penalty of up to ten years in prison for those who perform abortions.
Despite being the fourth state in 2019 alone to adopt such a measure, Georgia has been receiving more attention than the other states — primarily because it is one of the top five states in the United States in terms of motion picture, music, television, feature film, and other forms of entertainment production.
That fact has not been lost on actors and actresses in the entertainment industry — especially those who are associated with Hollywood. Alyssa Milano — who is an actress — has called for a “sex strike”, which has become viral on social media.
Our reproductive rights are being erased.
Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy.
JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back.
I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/uOgN4FKwpg
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019
“Our reproductive rights are being erased”, according to what Alyssa Milano posted on Twitter. “Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.”
Meanwhile, the state of Rhode Island is already attempting to woo business away from the state of Georgia.
Open Letter To Any TV or Film Companies That Are Boycotting Georgia:
Rhode Island has a workforce that’s second to none. Minutes from the ocean. And we respect the rights of women to make their own health care decisions.
-David https://t.co/Vi2NiZ0JXk
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) May 12, 2019
Remember the passage of a law by the North Carolina General Assembly back in April of 2016 known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which was to ban local governments in the state from instituting protective measures against anti-discrimination based on sexual orientation; and require transgender people in public schools, universities and government buildings to use washrooms which match the gender on their birth certificates?
.@Netflix @reedhastings: you refused to film in North Carolina over their anti-trans bathroom bill. We need you to do the same in Georgia until they repeal their degrading and dangerous abortion ban! #HB481 #HB481isBadForBusiness
— Executive X (@mikecoulson48) April 25, 2019
Mike Coulson remembers when Netflix “refused to film in North Carolina over their anti-trans bathroom bill. We need you to do the same in Georgia until they repeal their degrading and dangerous abortion ban!”
Summary
I am based in the state of Georgia; but as I work part time as an actor, I believe that a boycott on the entertainment industry working in Georgia will hurt fellow actors and smaller studios and production companies the most. Besides, the larger companies in the entertainment industry are enjoying significant tax breaks when filming on location within the state of Georgia. Money talks.
As for banning travel to the state of Georgia, I am not really sure that will have much of an impact either.
Regardless of how I feel about this or any other law, I am not thrilled about outside entities which attempt to dictate what should and should not occur within a state in which they are not based. I remember during the most recent gubernatorial elections in the state of Georgia how powerful interests in Hollywood diligently tried to affect the results. I think they have enough to worry about pertaining to fixing the state of California before they try to influence elections and legislation in other states.
Finally, I have a modest request for members of both the pro-life and pro-choice movements: when a woman becomes pregnant, the train has already left the station. Why not instead pool your resources and team up to figure out ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies from happening in the first place, which would largely avoid this whole abortion debate that does little more than waste time and money?
