The Wire creator praised for pledging to move HBO series production out of Texas over abortion laws

David Simon said decision was ‘beyond politics’

Simon in 2018 (Getty Images)

The Wire creator David Simon has said he will no longer film his forthcoming HBO series in Texas in response to the state’s new abortion laws.

Earlier this month, a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy came into effect across Texas after the US Supreme Court voted down an emergency request to block it.

The legislation, which is the country’s most radical abortion law, bans terminations once foetal cardiac activity is detectable, which occurs at around six weeks’ gestation and before most women know they are pregnant.

On Monday (20 September), Simon, who worked as showrunner on The Wire from 2002 to 2008, said that he would not put female cast and crew members at risk by shooting his latest unnamed project in Texas, stating that the issue was “beyond politics”.

“I’m turning in scripts next month on an HBO non-fiction miniseries based on events in Texas, but I can’t and won’t ask female cast/crew to forgo civil liberties to film there. What else looks like Dallas/Ft. Worth?”

He added: “I don’t anticipate anything other than that if even one of our employees requires full control of her own body and choices – and if a law denies this or further criminalises our attempt to help her exercise that control, we should have filmed elsewhere.”

Simon also hit back at a fan of The Wire who criticised his stance, writing: “The Wire is written, structured and themed for sentient, coherent adult viewers that can, say, distinguish between a non-viable foetus and a living infant, and would not dare venture near the internet to opine on matters until they had mastered such basics. Try Mannix reruns.”

Simon was widely praised for his remarks, with one Twitter user commenting: “Thank you David Simon for supporting women’s reproductive rights by refusing to film in Texas.”

“This has to happen to change things. More co-conspirators, please,” another tweet read.

One person wrote: “Hate that we are losing this but very happy that people are standing up and saying, ‘Hell no!’”

“One of the many reasons that ⁦@AoDespair⁩ and his wife ⁦@LauraMLippman⁩ are my favorite Baltimore Power couple.  They use that power for good.  Hope more do this,” one tweet read, while another social media user added: “Figured there’d be a lot more of this by now.”