A major Hollywood row over abortion has reached these shores as two of the world’s most powerful media giants were urged to boycott Northern Ireland.

Netflix and Disney are under pressure from pro-choice campaigners to stop filming in the North, where women can face life in jail for terminating a pregnancy.

It comes after the two broadcasters joined a number of Hollywood actors by threatening to withdraw from the US state of Georgia over a proposed abortion ban.

Women’s rights groups in the UK, however, pointed out that both broadcasters, and a number of the actors, have been content to work in Northern Ireland, which has some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.

“Those benefiting from tax breaks in Northern Ireland, the likes of Netflix and Disney, should know that women who pay their taxes are not getting access to healthcare on the NHS for their abortions,” said Kerry Abel, chairman of the Abortion Rights charity. “If they think that it is not acceptable to operate in Georgia they should consider Northern Ireland in the same light.”

Both Netflix and Disney refused to comment publicly on the row yesterday. It is understood, however, that Netflix executives believe the situation is different in Northern Ireland because women have been denied abortions there for hundreds of years, while women in Georgia stand to have their rights taken away.

The bill’s passage has led to a furious outcry in Hollywood, with high-profile actors including Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller and Alec Baldwin signing a letter warning they would “do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women”.

In response, Netflix said it would “rethink” its entire operation in the state and would work with civil liberties groups to contest the law in court.

Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, agreed it would be “very difficult” to continue working in the state if the so-called “heartbeat bill”, which outlaws terminations from as early as six weeks, comes into force.

Both corporations, however, have current projects in Northern Ireland, where abortions are illegal except in cases where a woman’s health is at risk, or if having a baby would leave her a “physical or mental wreck”.

In recent years the film industry has boomed in the North since it was chosen as the setting for ‘Game of Thrones’, the HBO series, in 2009. Recent movies have included ‘The Lost City of Z’, and ‘High-Rise’.

Sophie Turner, a star of ‘Game of Thrones’, attracted criticism after revealing she too would refuse to work in any US state with an abortion ban. When it was put to the 23-year-old British actress that there were similar laws in Northern Ireland, she replied: “There was a lot of work of ‘Game Of Thrones’ there, so luckily we’re moving on.”

In response, Nicola Coughlan, star of the Netflix series ‘Derry Girls’, said it was “mad how people can easily ignore what’s going on on their doorstep”.

In 2017, almost 1,000 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England and Wales to terminate their pregnancies.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has come under pressure to change the law in the continued absence of a functioning government in Stormont. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

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