Planned Parenthood Tells Texas and Other States, “Bans Off Our Bodies” in New Ad Campaign

Six-figure paid digital ad buy will reach people in six states vulnerable to losing abortion access 

WASHINGTON, DC — In just two weeks, abortion could effectively be banned in Texas, where the nation’s most extreme abortion law, the six-week abortion ban S.B. 8, is scheduled to take effect on September 1. As abortion providers and advocates fight this ban in court, Planned Parenthood Federation of America is launching a six-figure paid ad campaign to mobilize people and raise awareness about the most dangerous attack on reproductive freedom our country has seen in generations. The $150,000 ad buy will reach people in Texas and five other states where abortion access is threatened: Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, and Mississippi. 

Texas’s S.B. 8 bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy and allows anyone — complete strangers, including anti-abortion protestors with no connection to the patient — to sue doctors and others who help a Texan access abortion in the state. Should the federal courts allow this law to stand in Texas, state politicians opposed to abortion may try to replicate it across the country. Planned Parenthood website banners and ads across social media platforms educate people on what Texas’s law will do and how devastating it will be for reproductive freedom. Supporters will also be invited to tell Texas politicians: Bans Off Our Bodies. 

Heather Holdridge, PPFA National Director of Digital Content and Campaigns, says of the campaign: 

“Planned Parenthood believes all people should have control of their own bodies, their lives and their future. . But Texas legislators and state politicians across the country are trying to take that right away from us, and hope no one notices. ‘Sue thy neighbor,’ Texas-style abortion bans could be coming to our backyards, and more than 25 million people — at least 7 million of them in Texas alone — are in danger of losing abortion access from these and other attacks. With this digital ad campaign, Planned Parenthood is making sure that anti-abortion politicians and activists hear us loud and clear: keep your bans off our bodies.

Patients in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, and Mississippi, like those in Texas, are already subject to cruel and unnecessary restrictions that limit abortion access, including:

• Total or near-total abortion bans that could be triggered by Roe being overturned;

• “Reason”-based abortion bans that prevent open, honest conversations between patients and their doctors

• 20- or 22-week abortion bans based in unproven, stigmatizing assertions;

• Telehealth bans for medication abortion that force people to make unnecessary trips;

• Forced delays to an abortion that can even require two trips to the clinic; and

• Biased, medically inaccurate counseling requirements

If laws like S.B. 8 are allowed to stand, it will only make anti-abortion agenda-driven politicians across the country bolder and more aggressive in their efforts to ban access to safe, legal abortion. 

Planned Parenthood is calling on supporters to stand up for reproductive freedom in the coming weeks and months — starting in Texas. Digital ads will run through September 1.

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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care for all 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, striving to create equitable access to health care. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable education and information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports the independently incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates operating health centers across the U.S.