President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson posted an image of ice cream truck the company used promote abortion rights at South by Southwest (SXSW)—an annual festival of film, media, music performances, and conferences that takes place in Austin Texas.
On the second day of the festival, March 12, 2022, Johnson posted the image on Twitter, saying, “Ice cream, you scream, we all scream for abortion rights!”
“Catch us around SXSW and stop by to grab some free Bans Off swag, condoms, and education on the cold hearted policies of the Texas legislature,” she wrote.
The truck is reminiscent of one that someone might see driving around neighborhoods playing an enticing children’s tune in order for them to beg their parents to buy them an ice cream treat.
Bright white with popping pink graphics, the ice cream truck flies an American flag attached to its driver’s side, and passenger’s side mirrors contain logos referencing both abortion and women’s rights.
One logo calls out Texas’ politicians, saying, “Ice cream as cold as TX politicians,” which is a reference to the state’s controversial “heartbeat ban” that went into law September 2021. At the end of 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the Texas law that bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually before most women even know they are pregnant. New data released in February estimates that the new ban is saving 100 lives a day.
RELATED: Texas Abortion Ban Is Saving 100 Unborn Lives per Day, According to New Data
Other logos in the shapes of candy read, “Don’t Tread on Me,” and “My Choice,” and “Don’t Mess With Texas Women,” and “My Body.” A large image of an ice cream come next to a condom and a pregnancy test asking people to “join the fight to defend abortion access” while encouraging people to text a number.
The menu that would normally display images of ice cream treats was replaced with images of condom wrappers made to look like ice cream bars. “Ribbed, Glow in the Dark, Sponge (made to look like Sponge Bob SquarePants), Bubblegum, Studded, and Spidey (depicting an image of Spider-Man) were all names listed as the flavor of condoms.
With hashtag #BansOffOurBodies, a campaign started to fight back against reproductive healthcare, the truck drove around SXSW as Johnson and Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas’ president Ken Lambert handed out ice cream, Bans Off Our Bodies swag, and condoms.
An image posted by Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas on Twitter shows a young child handing out Planned Parenthood swag to supporters.
