The president of video game publisher Tripwire Interactive has tweeted his support for Texas' controversial new ‘heartbeat’ law that effectively bans abortions after six weeks - causing a co-developer studio to immediately cancel their contracts.
Texas' SB-8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, is the strictest abortion law in the country, and bans women from having abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually around six weeks - before many women become aware of their pregnancy.
John Gibson, the head of Portland-based Tripwire Interactive, posted the tweet on Saturday. His company is best known for creating the popular survival game Maneater as well as the multiplayer hit Chivalry 2.
Gibson wrote that he was ‘proud’ of the high court, writing: ‘As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.’
Portland city council is preparing to vote on an emergency resolution this week which will restrict goods, services and official travel to Texas in protest at the law.
John Gibson, the head of Georgia-based Tripwire Interactive, tweeted his support for the Supreme Court’s decision not to block a controversial ‘heartbeat’ law in Texas that effectively bans abortions
Gibson wrote that he was ‘proud’ of the high court, writing: ‘As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.’
His company is best known for creating the popular survival game Maneater as well as the multiplayer hit Chivalry 2
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is seen above on March 25. His state has been criticized for passing a restrictive new abortion law
Women protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin on Wednesday
In response to Gibson’s post, Shipwright Studios, a developer that collaborated with Tripwire on its Maneater and Chivalry 2 projects, announced that it was cutting ties with Tripwire.
'While your politics are your own, the moment you make them a matter of public discourse you entangle all of those working for and with you,' the company wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
'We know it is difficult for employees to speak up or act out in these scenarios, and they may not feel comfortable to speak their minds.
'It is regrettable, but we feel it would be doing ourselves, your employees, your partners and the industry as a whole a disservice to allow this pattern to continue without comment.
'We started Shipwright with the idea that it was finally time to put our money where our mouth is.
'We cannot in good conscience continue to work with Tripwire under the current leadership structure.'
Torn Banner Studios, another developer that had a hand in building Chivalry 2, posted a tweet distancing itself from Tripwire.
'We do not share the opinion expressed in a recent tweet by the president of Tripwire, publisher of Chivalry 2,' the firm said in a statement.
'This perspective is not shared by our team, nor is it reflected in the games we create. The statement stands in opposition to what we believe about women’s rights.'
In response to Gibson’s post, Shipwright Studios, a developer that collaborated with Tripwire on its Maneater and Chivalry 2 projects, announced that it was cutting ties with Tripwire
Torn Banner Studios, another developer that had a hand in building Chivalry 2, posted a tweet distancing itself from Tripwire
Torn Banner and Shipwright both helped Tripwire develop its popular game Chivalry 2
The law’s going into effect has outraged abortion rights activists and their supporters, prompting calls for boycotts of blue-chip companies that have expanded their operations in the Lone Star State in recent years.
Hollywood actors, musicians and celebrities hit out Thursday at the new law.
Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria Baston and Pink were among those criticizing the 'fetal heartbeat' bill.
'It's pretty simple. We should all be able to make decisions about our health & future,' tweeted Desperate Housewives star Longoria Baston.
'But between (Texas's) extreme abortion ban & states passing a record number of abortion restrictions this year, we have to fight for everyone's reproductive freedom.'
Under the hashtag #BansOffOurBodies, actress and producer Reese Witherspoon tweeted: 'I stand with the women of Texas who have the Constitutional right to make decisions about their health and their own bodies.'
There are growing calls for companies to pull out of SXSW, the annual music, film, and politics festival in Austin, Texas
Singer Pink said: 'I stand in solidarity with people in (Texas) who, as of today, face an extreme 6-week abortion ban.
'This ban... will be the blueprint for bans across the US. Unless we do something about it.'
The celebrity reactions were among a flood of responses after the United States Supreme Court declined to block the bill at the eleventh hour.
The Texas law makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exception is if there is a danger to the woman's health.
While similar laws have passed in a dozen Republican-led conservative states, all had been stymied in the courts.
Pro-choice advocates say the refusal of the Supreme Court to step in to block the bill imperils rights that have been enshrined in US law since a landmark 1973 case.
'The Supreme Court's ruling overnight is an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years,' President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Lyft and Uber have vowed to cover 100 percent of their drivers' legal fees if they get sued for transporting women to abortion appointments in Texas
The law in Republican-dominated Texas is particularly controversial because it allows members of the public to sue doctors who perform abortions, with medics liable for up to $10,000 for each procedure they perform.
Abortion is a touchstone issue in the United States, provoking strong responses on both sides.
The Texas law is among a raft of state-level measures coming to the fore as Republican-dominated legislatures seek to make rules that polls say a majority of Americans disagree with.
The appointment to the Supreme Court of three judges by former president Donald Trump has emboldened those on the right - particularly evangelical Christians - who see a chance to reverse a ruling they hold as counter to the will of God.
The new law has prompted calls for film companies to boycott the state.
Actress Patricia Arquette tweeted: 'We will not stop until women have full equal rights in every state in America. We will boycott you. We will out organize you. We will strike you.'
The company vowed in a statement to 'keep fighting against regressive laws like SB8'
Shar Dubey (right), CEO of Match Group, said she is personally setting up a fund to support employees and their dependents who may need to travel out of Texas for an abortion. Bumble, meanwhile, announced it will donate to women's reproductive rights organizations. Pictured CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe (left)
Match Group owns Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge and PlentyOfFish and has around 400 employees in Texas
Her sister, Rosanna Arquette, tweeted: 'I've just turned down a film I love cause it shoots in Texas.'
Author Megan Kelley Hall tweeted: 'Every recording artist or entertainer, every athlete, every comedian, should cancel their tour dates in Texas.
'Today. Right now. Don’t wait another second.
'Don’t bring money & business to a state that has put $10k bounties on women's heads.'
Actor Billy Baldwin tweeted: 'Let me get this straight: No masks. No vaccinations. Voter suppression. Women’s rights violated. Abortion bounty hunters. Open carry assault weapons.
'Make no mistake… #BoycottTexas will cost them billions in lost business and a 100 thousand jobs.'
In 2019, several prominent voices in Hollywood urged a boycott of Georgia after that state's Republican-dominated legislature passed a 'fetal heartbeat' measure that effectively banned abortions.
Last year, a federal judge blocked the measure, saying it was unconstitutional.
Georgia has become known as the 'Hollywood of the South' due to its 30 percent tax rebate for film and TV production - and has grown that reputation into a $9.5billion industry.
The state brings in approximately $2.7billion each year in direct revenue from filming.
The Walking Dead makes up no small part of that.
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