Planned Parenthood Launches #BansOffMyBody Campaign in Response to Abortion Bans Sweeping the Country
For Immediate Release: June 17, 2019 (Updated: June 17, 2019, 1 p.m.)
Campaign Launches with Billboard in Times Square and Six-Figure Ad Buy
New York, NY — Today, Planned Parenthood Federation of America launches Bans Off My Body, a grassroots campaign to fight back against attacks on reproductive health care and boldly declare that our bodies, our lives, and our futures are our own. The campaign launches with a billboard in Times Square and a six-figure digital ad buy.
Across America, reproductive rights and freedoms hang in the balance. Nearly 1 in 4 women will have an abortion in her lifetime, and a record-high 77 percent of Americans don’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Yet in 2019, an unprecedented number of extreme abortion bans are being enacted across the country, many of which don’t include exceptions for rape or incest; could jail doctors simply for providing care (in one case for up to 99 years) and could allow the state to investigate miscarriages. In just the past six months, we have seen wildly unconstitutional and deeply damaging abortion bans pass in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. This isn’t a mere coincidence — this is an attempt to ban abortion outright.
Bans Off My Body seeks to center the people who are impacted by these draconian restrictions on reproductive health and freedom, and encourages people to join together, and with Planned Parenthood, to take action and fight back. The accompanying website, www.bansoffmybody.org, will drive users to a tool that allows them to see abortion access restrictions around the country, and direct them to ways they can take action.
Statement from Dr. Leana Wen, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:
Every person deserves the right to control their body, their life, and their future. We cannot live freely and move fully in the world when our basic right to access the reproductive health care we need, including safe, legal abortion, is under attack. Our bodies are our own — if they are not, we cannot be truly free or equal. We will show everyone the strength of our fierce and unrelenting opposition to these bans and any attempt to take away our fundamental right to make decisions about our bodies. Now is the time to unite, stand up, and make sure we all have the opportunity to live full and healthy lives. We won’t tolerate this assault on our reproductive health and rights, and we won’t be silenced. People across the country are ready to stand together, unified and defiant, to say: get your Bans Off My Body.
The campaign launches as people all across America are rising up to oppose the trend of states banning access to abortion, and provides a rallying cry for the continued fight. On Tuesday, May 21, thousands of activists marched at more than 500 events all across the nation. Protesters gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court and in state capitals across the country — flooding Alabama with rallies, with more than 2,000 gathering in Missouri, and more than 5,000 marching in Oregon. The CEOs of 180+ companies, including Yelp, Warby Parker, H&M U.S., Amalgamated Bank, Eileen Fisher, Glossier, Postmates, Bloomberg L.P., Square, Zoom, Atlantic Records, Blavity, among others took out a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for an end to abortion bans. Celebrities and influencers have spoken out against these bans too, including: actors on the red carpet at the Tony Awards; Travis Scott’s generous donation of all of the profits from his Alabama Fest merchandise sales to Planned Parenthood following the state's abortion ban; Tumblr founder David Karp’s $1 million donation to Planned Parenthood; Ariana Grande’s donation of part of the proceeds of her Atlanta, Georgia concert to Planned Parenthood; and a chilling public service announcement put together by the cast of The Handmaid’s Tale.
The billboard will run in Times Square through July 1, and complements a national digital ad buy across multiple platforms.
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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.