Netflix and Disney face Nireland abortion row
A Hollywood row over abortion has spread to the UK after Netflix and Disney were urged to boycott Northern Ireland. The media giants are under pressure from campaigners to stop filming in the province, where women can face life in jail for terminating a pregnancy. The two broadcasters joined a number of Hollywood actors by threatening to withdraw from the US state of Georgia over a proposed abortion ban.
‘Those benefiting from tax breaks ... should know that women who pay their taxes are not getting NHS healthcare ... for abortions’
A MAJOR Hollywood row over abortion has spread to the UK after two of the world’s most powerful media giants were urged to boycott Northern Ireland.
Netflix and Disney are under pressure from pro-choice campaigners to stop filming in the province, where women can face life in jail for terminating a pregnancy.
It comes after the two broadcasters joined a number of Hollywood actors by threatening to withdraw from the US state of Georgia over a proposed abortion ban.
Women’s rights groups in Britain, however, pointed out that both broadcasters, and a number of the actors, have been content to work in Northern Ireland, which has some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
“Those benefiting from tax breaks in Northern Ireland, the likes of Netflix and Disney, should know that women who pay their taxes are not getting access to healthcare on the NHS for their abortions,” said Kerry Abel, chairman of the Abortion Rights charity.
“If they think that it is not acceptable to operate in Georgia they should consider Northern Ireland in the same light.”
Both Netflix and Disney refused to comment publicly on the row yesterday. It is understood, however, that Netflix executives believe the situation is different in Northern Ireland because women have been denied abortions there for hundreds of years, while women in Georgia stand to have their rights taken away.
The bill’s passage has led to a furious outcry in Hollywood, with high-profile actors including Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller and Alec Baldwin signing a letter warning they would “do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women”.
In response, Netflix said it would “rethink” its entire operation in the state and would work with civil liberties groups to contest the law in court.
Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, agreed it would be “very difficult” to continue working in the state if the socalled “heartbeat bill”, which outlaws terminations from as early as six weeks, comes into force.
Both corporations, however, have current projects in Northern Ireland, where abortions are illegal except in cases where a woman’s health is at risk, or if having a baby would leave her a “physical or mental wreck”.
In recent years the film industry has boomed in the province since it was chosen as the setting for Game of Thrones, the HBO series, in 2009. Recent movies have included The Lost City of Z, and High-rise.
Sophie Turner, one of the stars of Game of Thrones, also attracted criticism after revealing she too would refuse to work in any US state with an abortion ban. When it was put to the 23-year-old British actress that there were similar laws in Northern Ireland, she replied: “There was a lot of work on Game Of Thrones there, so luckily we’re moving on.”
In response, Nicola Coughlan, star of the Netflix series Derry Girls, said it was “mad how people can easily ignore what’s going on on their doorstep”.
In 2017 almost 1,000 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England and Wales to terminate their pregnancies.
In recent months Theresa May has come under pressure to change the law in the continued absence of a functioning government in Stormont. The abortion ban in neighbouring Ireland was overturned last year after a landslide referendum result.