The Media vs. Georgia

Last week, several large media companies made statements addressing the restrictive heartbeat-bill that is being considered in Georgia right now. The companies announced that they would consider pulling out of filming in Georgia if the law was put into effect, something that would greatly affect Georgia’s economy. The companies who joined in with this, as of now, are Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. Production companies like Killer Films, Blown Deadline Productions, and Duplass Brothers Productions.

If this law makes it through court and gets passed, it would take effect on January 1st, 2020. This law restricts women’s rights over their bodies and their right to choose to keep their baby or not. The law would make it to where women could not abort a fetus after 6 weeks, when a heartbeat can be detected. The problem with this, though, is that this is a mere two weeks late off of a woman’s period, which can be normal for a large number of women with irregular period who would not think twice if it was a couple weeks later. It is also very controversial because the law would not make exceptions for rape, incest, or if the mother’s life was being put in danger by going through with the pregnancy. Companies like the ones mentioned above said that it was important to keep in mind the safety and rights of women who work in the media industry who would not want to film in an area where such restrictions are taking place. For example, already many actresses and influencers have spoke out about this bill including actress Kirsten Wiig who spoke out publicly about her refusal to film in Georgia if this law takes place.  

Companies refusing to film in Georgia would mean a big loss for Georgia as well as for those companies. In terms of Georgia’s losses, companies pulling out of filming there would mean job losses for 100s of workers including carpenters, hairdressers, food workers, and many other small businesses in Georgia. Companies would also lose, in a way, because areas to film are limited and Georgia has some of the biggest as best spots to film, being used for big movies like Black Panther and Avengers: End Game. Losing this space, and with spots in the UK being booked out 3 or 4 years, companies would lose a lot of opportunities for filming efficiently and with high quality.

I personally think that the positives outweigh the negatives in the company's decisions. I think that even though many jobs would be lost and companies would lose a ton of filming space, fighting for women’s rights and keeping women out of situations where their rights are being restricted are more important. I really respect Netflix and Disney’s decision to announce their revaluation of filming in Georgia should this bill be passed and I hope they go through with it should this unfortunate law become a reality.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/30/business/disney-bob-iger-abortion-georgia/index.html