Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475555
20 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2022 | sagaftra.org For Members Union Members Take Action! SAG-AFTRA members are among those on the front lines in support of reproductive rights and gun safety. For Members SPEAKING OUT ON GUN REFORM I n the wake of the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas — yet another mass shooting now far too common in the United States — and the historic reversal of decades-old precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the right to access reproductive health care, union members have been speaking out and reaching out, attempting to lend their creative voices and assets to the causes they hold dear. Many organizations and companies, including SAG-AFTRA, have also taken strong stances on gun safety reform and reproductive rights, issuing statements of support and offering ways in which that support will be expressed in action. In one of the most dramatic calls for action on gun violence, actor Matthew McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde and lived there until he was 11 years old, addressed the media and the nation from the White House briefing room in June. He pleaded for Congressional action and shared artwork created by some of the 19 Uvalde schoolchildren who were shot and killed on May 24 at Robb Elementary School. Other performers posted messages on their social media platforms calling for gun safety reform, including Gabrielle Union, who wrote, "How many of our babies need to be murdered for folks to be moved to action?" Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson also posted to her socials after the Uvalde shooting and the Buffalo, New York, shooting less than two weeks earlier, writing, "Every time this happens, I watch the conversation move toward … health, race, class, domestic dispute … all it does is protect the only constant in each case: a gun." Taraji P. Henson called out the U.S. Supreme Court at the June BET Awards to rousing applause. Inset, Julia Louis-Dreyfus helped secure funds for health care providers through social media. 20 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2022 | sagaftra.org T W ITT E R