Lionsgate Will Mandate Abortion Safety Protocols for Employees, CEO Says in Memo (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Kate Aurthur editorLionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer — in his regular weekly letter to the staff — has vowed that the company will prioritize and protect the reproductive rights of its employees.In the letter, which was obtained by Variety, Feltheimer noted that Lionsgate already has strong protections in place “to safeguard employees from discrimination, harassment, bullying and invasion of privacy,” and wrote that after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June, which overturned Roe v.

Wade, “it has become necessary to develop strong policies and add to our comprehensive benefits to protect our employees’ reproductive rights as well.” Feltheimer’s letter is copied in full below.The Lionsgate show “P-Valley,” which airs on Starz, is filmed in Georgia, where abortion is forbidden as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Feltheimer acknowledges in the memo that there might be “differing views on this sensitive issue within our diverse Lionsgate family.” But, he continues, “the reproductive rights of every employee must be protected, individual choice will be safeguarded, and access to necessary health services will be prioritized.” Perhaps most significant, he writes that Lionsgate is currently working to implement a “comprehensive policy to carry out this mandate – one that factors in health insurance issues, the legal and regulatory frameworks of the states in which we operate, and a host of other issues.”Of late, the entertainment industry has been in upheaval over what Hollywood studios should do to protect employees in states where abortion has been outlawed, or soon will be.

Right after Dobbs, studios and media companies such as Disney, Netflix, Meta and several more promised to fund travel for any employee who needed.