No one, be they an individual or an organization, seems to be able to take to social media without causing a serious backlash at least once. Currently, Twitter seems to be the preferred method for creating a PR firestorm, and Planned Parenthood continued that trend last week. The organization came under fire after posting a tweet that called for “a Disney princess who’s had an abortion.” The tweet was removed approximately two hours later, but as nothing can ever truly be deleted from the internet, the tweet continued to circulate, and the massive backlash continued to grow.
At a time when the political left and right seem to make it a point of pride to agree on nothing, both pro-choice and pro-life Twitter users were enraged by Planned Parenthood’s tweet. “I do not think the Disney princesses need to be having abortions,” said user name Minick. “I’m pro choice too, by the way. The circumstances surrounding an abortion in a kid movie would have to be extreme…you have to explain sex and death and the complicated reason[s someone would have an abortion]. I’ll talk with my kids about that myself, I don’t need some…Disney film showing it.” Another user, DowagerCountess, said that they were “fine with destigmatizing abortion but Disney movies are definitely not the platform to do it. A ridiculous and inappropriate suggestion to say the least.” Twitter user StefWilliams25 chimed in as well. “I’m as pro-choice as they come,” they said, “but the Planned Parenthood tweet about Disney princesses had some…tone deafness going on.” User KinseyHolley also agreed saying, “They have no idea how extreme this sounds (and yes, I’m pro-choice).”
The unity between pro-life and pro-choice users was a pleasant surprise, but the overwhelming pro-life backlash was not. “Impressionable, idealistic little girls often adore the strength, bravery and compassion of the princesses displayed in Disney films. They dress like them, sing their songs, look up to them and imagine being them because they portray something good, something noble…This [Planned Parenthood] propaganda was so disturbing that even many ‘pro-choice’ individuals left critical comments on the post,” said Micaiah Bilger, a writer for LifeNews.com.
The head of Planned Parenthood Keystone, Melissa Reed, confirmed that the organization did put out the tweet that enraged so many. “We joined an ongoing Twitter conversation about the kinds of princesses people want to see in an attempt to make a point about the importance of telling stories that challenge stigma and championing stories that too often don’t get told,” Reed said. “Upon reflection, we decided that the seriousness of the point we were trying to make was not appropriate for the subject matter or context, and we removed the tweet.”
The internet, of course, was not so quick to forget the post as users who took screenshots of the post continued to spread it around social media and throw gasoline on the fire. In a rare show of unity regarding one of the most controversial topics in the nation, both pro-choice and pro-life advocates agreed that the topic of abortion had no place in movies that are aimed at children as young as five years old. For once in recent years, America agreed on something: a discussion about abortion does not belong in cartoons known for singing animals, talking snowmen, pumpkins that turn into carriages and a guaranteed “happily ever after.”