‘The Wire’ Creator David Simon Boycotts Texas Over Restrictive Abortion Law

Texas’s new abortion law has been receiving criticism from across the country. The newest celebrity to denounce the law has taken it a step further by saying he will refuse to film in the state as long as the law is in place.

David Simon, the creator of The Wire, announced that his newest project, which takes place in Texas, will instead be filmed in a different state.

“This is beyond politics,” Simon tweeted. “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?”

Simon’s announcement was met with both praise and criticism. He was shy about advocating for his position in the replies to his tweet.

“We stage production where women risk nothing and endure nothing to control their own bodies,” he said to someone who asked if he was overstating the risk of filming in Texas. “Those places exist with adequate facilities to film.”

The new law bans abortions six weeks after conception, a time period where some women don’t even know they’re pregnant and allows for citizens to sue someone they suspect of trying to receive an abortion or attempting to help someone get an abortion.

The law has faced criticism from all over the country and is expected to be the center of a fierce legal battle in the years to come.