ST. LOUIS – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri has launched a new abortion rights campaign known as Brands Against Bans.
The campaign intends to support access to health care and reduce the social stigma of abortion. Twelve organizations, including several around the St. Louis area, have already partnered with the Brands Against Bands campaign.
Missouri banned elective abortions on June 24 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
“As a trusted provider of sexual and reproductive health care in our region for over 90 years, [Planned Parenthood] knows what it takes to rebuild abortion access in a post-Roe America,” said Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, Vice-President of Strategy and Communications of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. “It starts with the people’s power — the power of our voice, our wallets, and our actions. Brands Against Bans will unite like-minded consumers and businesses in a campaign that will send a clear message: we will not be silenced. This is only the beginning of building abortion equity in the communities we serve.”
One of the campaign’s first abortion rights events is planned for Friday evening in St. Louis. Brick City Yoga will host a one-hour, all-level yoga class, which will be followed by cocktails from The Wandering Sidecar Bar Company.
Proceeds benefit The Regional Logistics Center Patient Equity Fund. Brick City Yoga and the Wandering Sidecar Bar are among the 12 that have already signed up to support the campaign.
“Access to reproductive health and rights, including abortion, is one of the most basic ways individuals can have agency over their own bodies,” said Kate Ewing, owner of Brick City Yoga. “When everyone has reproductive freedom, our families, businesses, and communities thrive. As a small business, Brick City Yoga takes its responsibility to our community seriously and that means doing our part to shatter abortion stigma. We hope others will join us in this work.”
Among the businesses in support the campaign include:
- Lush Cosmetics – North America
- Brick City Yoga
- The Wandering Sidecar Bar Company
- Culture Flock
- STL-Style LLC
- Millennial Assistants
- C&K Cleaning Krew LLC
- Own Your Pride
- Hedy & Hopp
- Church Productions LLC
- Golden Gems
- Lone Wolf Welding & Services LLC
Planned Parenthood asks businesses and brands across Missouri and Illinois interested in participating in the campaign to fill out a form.