How Nerd Caliber Will Respond To The Overturn Of Roe v. Wade

I’m not going to apologize for this break in the normal flow of nerdy content such as photo galleries or game, movie and TV reviews. Some things are more important than our obsession with nerdy things. The ruling by the Supreme Court of the United Sates that overturns the right to an abortion established in the decision Roe v. Wade is one of those things.

There is little we, as an organization can do. We are based in Massachusetts, and our governor — a Republican — signed an Executive Order guaranteeing that no abortion provider in the Bay State will face legal problems if they provide those services from someone who lives in a state that makes abortions illegal. Gov. Baker signed this within an hour of the SCOTUS decision today.

So, while we can encourage people to continue to support elected officials that support the right to choose, in our home state — among the bluest of blue — there is little chance that right will change. That isn’t the case in many states across the country.

Already, as of writing this article, five states have enacted a ban on abortion. South Dakota, Louisiana and Kentucky had trigger laws that went into effect automatically upon the SCOTUS decision. Missouri and Mississippi were among a number of states that required an action such as the state’s Attorney General signing the ban, and those two states did so. Additionally, Texas’ AG signed that state’s ban which will go into effect in 30 days. Tennessee and Idaho also have bans that will go into effect in 30 days, although as of this writing I haven’t seen that the AG’s in those states have signed off on it.

Nerd Caliber will no longer cover conventions in those states until such time as the bans are overturned or the federal government codifies Roe into law. Additionally, we will not cover or review shows, movies or games made in those states.

As more states enact bans on abortions we will add to this list. Right now, the only conventions that would be affected are Fan Expo Dallas and Rooster Teeth Expo, both in Texas, and neither of which we’ve covered consistently. But the number of video games, movies and shows is much larger, and there is no doubt the convention list will grow.

We understand this is just a gesture and won’t have any real impact on the SCOTUS decision or the bans in the states. But doing the right thing is something you do even if it has no significant impact. You do it because it is right.