Guest Column: What Hollywood Can Do About Roe v. After Wade’s reversal

we knew that Roe vs Wade it was fragile. When Tara served on the Supreme Court nearly 18 years ago, it was clear that for the most conservative judges and jurists, Ro was the turning point. The outrage with which he was viewed was palpable, from the apocryphal stories of lawyers who went to the Supreme Court Law Library every morning just to throw away Volume 410 of the Supreme Court Reporter, a volume containing roe Decision – on the ground. That was the level of disdain and surrender to the blow roe.

As a lawyer (Tara) and political advisor (Hannah), we’ve spent the last week talking to clients and friends. dobbs Decision – which was overturned Roe vs Wade June 24th – and the only question on anyone’s mind is, “What now?”

Before we discuss reproductive rights and bodily autonomy for everyone, let’s clarify two important things.

First, this is not the last fundamental right that a court can take away. The reasoning of the Supreme Court dobbs, which directly challenges the concept of personal liberty upheld by the 14th Amendment, could also be applied by this Court to same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, contraception, and other deeply personal decisions about how we live our private lives. We must be prepared for the very real possibility that the right to choose whom to marry will also be abolished and that access to contraception will be as limited as abortion.

Second, this court is strangely with the American people. The majority of society believes that decisions about pregnancy are deeply personal and should not be made by politicians who seek power and control over a woman’s body. These are the same politicians who struggle to elect their own voters and question the legitimate outcome of our elections. The Supreme Court has already struck down voting rights and, perhaps most worryingly, recently announced that it will hear Moore vs. harper, a North Carolina case that would allow state legislatures to exercise unprecedented control over federal election rules and redistricting, even if their actions violate the state constitution, the will of the people, or the principle of “free” and fair elections. Our democracy is crumbling before our eyes and the loss of our independent judiciary should scare us all.

We say this not to instill more fear, or worse, apathy, but to remind our fellow artists, activists, global companies and powerful companies that the fight for reproductive rights, like the fight for our democracy, is a fight. Long but necessary. Stay with us until we restore the fundamental human right to bodily autonomy for all people in this country, a reality we must believe is possible.

Hollywood has made incredible strides in the past week: supporting abortion foundations and reproductive justice and rights groups across the country, pledging travel funds to out-of-state abortion seekers, and funding candidates for political office. Groups such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, Plan C, and the National Network of Abortion Foundations received much-needed and long-awaited support and attention. In the face of a national public health crisis, we will need these groups and many others to thrive as our society finally sheds light on the flawed systems that brought us here and created the modern abortion network.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates in undecided states and states with abortion laws on the books that are the most debated, notably Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kansas and Georgia, have emerged as strong supporters and advocates of reproductive rights. That we’ll need them if they’re elected in November. But a week of action and outrage is unlikely to bring lasting change amid the unprecedented legal, political and medical chaos that has erupted since then. roe delivered.

It took nearly 50 years for the anti-rights movement to decide to take away our reproductive rights, and it could take another 50 years to get them back. For that, we need a total paradigm shift.

Here’s how we recommend you help:

Do what you can for candidates running for every office, but especially governors, state legislators, members of Congress, state attorneys general, elected judges and elected prosecutors, especially on the abortion battlefields. Choices have consequences and these people have real power over our lives.

Change the narrative. Hollywood has the power to show people what’s possible, create hope, tell new kinds of stories, offer comfort and care, and empower people to find themselves. We have the power to shift the paradigm of what is possible and how to get there. We have more power than we know, and we must use that power now.

When you create a movie or a television series, when you write a novel or a play, when you create content, you are shaping our culture. We will tell real stories about real people who needed, wanted and had abortions (including miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies). We will tell the empowering and moving stories of people, men and women, non-binary and non-binary, whose lives have been transformed or saved by accessing reproductive freedoms. We’ll bring together concepts like Advance Provision (abortion pills in your medicine cabinet) and consistent, affordable pregnancy tests for everyone in our story. Let’s talk about the doctors, investors, women-owned telehealth companies, women-led community health organizations, and abortion-inspired networks that are willing to go the extra mile in the name of health equity. Let’s play with a new set of rules and discern what is sacred, difficult, difficult, and beautiful in our reproductive lives.

We hope you will stay with us in this fight for the days, months and decades to come. We hope you continue to believe and fight for our democracy. We hope you will join us in putting pressure on those already in power to fight for our rights and freedoms, including cryptography. roe Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act or declare a national public health emergency. We hope you will support pro-choice candidates and work to change the narrative. Let’s get Volume 410 off the ground and restore hope to the millions whose lives will be forever affected by the Supreme Court’s coup. Roe against Wade.

Tara Kole is a founding partner of Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole, an entertainment law firm, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former US Supreme Court clerk. Hannah Linkenhocker is a political strategist and philanthropic advisor and currently serves as director of engagement for Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole. Hannah is a co-founder of the LA Women’s Collective, a political action committee that works for more women in political power and in key elected office across the country.