Ilana Glazer joined Hasan Minhaj for a candid conversation about the restrictive abortion laws recently passed by a number of states, including Alabama and Georgia, in a new clip from Netflix’s Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj.
During the conversation, the comedian and actress admitted that she was hesitant to discuss the legislation on social media. “I’m paralyzed in fear and depression over it,” she said.
Earlier this month, Georgia passed a law banning abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Just a few days later, Alabama passed a law making performing an abortion at any stage of a pregnancy a punishable felony. The abortion provider faces up to 99 years to life in prison, and the only exception is if the woman’s health is at serious risk.
Glazer said during the conversation that she chose not to film an upcoming project in Georgia due to the law. “It sucks because the people of Atlanta are stoked and hustling, and the city is just groovin’ on making so much stuff,” she said.
Before Georgia’s abortion law was voted on by the state senate, Glazer was warned by the movie’s director that they should move their filming location: “Before I saw it in the news, she sent me this thing, ‘We should move our movie from Atlanta to New Orleans or just in New York.’
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to shoot there,'” she continued. “Film and TV is such an advertisement for the city and for the state that it’s in and I just don’t want to be there and support it, but it sucks because there are people there — 75 percent of the people are down for this. … So it sucks to punish those people, but I guess you have to make a move to make a statement.”
Glazer’s revelation comes as a number of companies and stars have spoken out against the Georgia law, with some saying they plan to boycott the state, which is a hot filming location, largely due to its 30 percent tax incentives.
Lionsgate’s film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar starring Kristen Wiig and Amazon’s Reed Morano series The Power both pulled out of Georgia in response to the abortion ban.
Production companies including Christine Vachon’s Killer Films, David Simon’s Blown Deadline Productions, Mark Duplass’ Duplass Brothers Productions, Nina Jacobson’s Colorforce and Neal Dodson’s CounterNarrative have also called for a boycott, though it’s unclear if any of them had plans to film in Georgia.
Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele, who are at work on the upcoming HBO drama Lovecraft Country, and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, who are working on the Netflix film Hillbilly Elegy, have released statements saying they will continue to shoot in Georgia in the coming weeks but are making donations to leading organizations fighting the bill, particularly the ACLU of Georgia and Fair Fight Georgia.
Glazer also discussed how problematic she believes the restrictive abortion laws are during her appearance on Patriot Act. “I say this from this privileged position as someone who — I can get an abortion if I need one,” she said. “Women get abortions anyway, even if they’re banned, and this is just making it dangerous for women who are already alive, versus fetuses who are not yet alive.”
Minhaj later asked Glazer what she thought Americans should do to fight against the laws. “If you have the money, give it immediately because money works and is how our world works. It’s like, ‘Yeah, I wish I wasn’t sending money for this, but this is what the situation is,'” she said.
Glazer added that only 25 percent of people in Alabama support the law.
“I think the move is to focus on the primaries in June, so that we can eventually vote for the people who will not take away women’s healthcare,” she said.
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Watch the full conversation below.
