Fact Check

Did Planned Parenthood Say There Should Be a Disney Princess Who Had an Abortion?

Screenshots of a purported Planned Parenthood tweet circulated that appear to suggest a controversial idea for a Disney heroine.

Published March 28, 2018

Claim:
A Planned Parenthood affiliate published a tweet opining that there should be a Disney princess who had an abortion.

On 27 March 2018, screenshots of a tweet purportedly sent by Planned Parenthood began circulating on Twitter:

Planned Parenthood's Twitter handle is @PPFA, and screenshots of the tweet displayed the handle @PPKeystone, a regional affiliate. In full, the tweet read:

We need a disney princess who's had an abortion

We need a disney princess who's pro-choice

We need a disney princess who's an undocumented immigrant

We need a disney princess who's actually a union worker

We need a disney princess who's trans

Wording of the tweet referenced a March 2018 Twitter meme, "We Need a Disney Princess":

We Need a Disney Princess refers to a [text-only meme known as a] snowclone popular on Twitter in which people sarcastically advocate for a Disney princess with a certain characteristic. The snowclone is a parody of calls for certain types of representation in Disney films.

The tweet was real; it was published by Planned Parenthood Keystone (a regional Planned Parenthood office, as opposed to the national network) on 27 March 2018, then archived prior to its deletion.

Planned Parenthood Keystone CEO Melissa Reed said in a statement:

Planned Parenthood believes that pop culture – television shows, music, movies – has a critical role to play in educating the public and sparking meaningful conversations around sexual and reproductive health issues and policies, including abortion. We also know that emotionally authentic portrayals of these experiences are still extremely rare — and that’s part of a much bigger lack of honest depictions of certain people’s lives and communities.

Today, 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. 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 tweet is real, but misattributed by some to Planned Parenthood as a whole, not a single affiliate in one state. Furthermore, the context of the tweet (a Twitter "snowclone" involving the phrase "We need a Disney Princess") was omitted from subsequent articles about the controversial tweet.

Sources

Know Your Meme.   "We Need A Disney Princess."     Accessed 28 March 2018.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.