This American Girl Doll is on HRT! [gender-affirming hormone therapy]
This American Girl Doll is PrEP! [pre-exposure prophylaxis]
This American Girl Doll gets routine STI screening! [sexually transmitted infection]
This American Girl Doll is having a medication abortion!
This American Girl Doll uses birth control!
These are the descriptions beside some images of fake American Girl dolls on the Facebook page of the Lovering Health Center in Greenland, N.H. The dolls are accompanied by sexually charged tools and toys, including pill bottles, a blood vial, and a contraceptive ring.
The abortion clinic’s website says that it
welcomes people of all genders, ages, and sexual orientations in a supportive environment. It is our passion to honor, respect, and advocate for the right of everyone to maintain freedom and choices regarding their own sexual and reproductive health.
When I saw these fantasy dolls over a week ago, I got mad and left the tab open on my laptop. I was already writing for the new Lifeline newsletter about crass offerings from a pro-abortion online store, and I can only get so depressed about the future of humanity at a given moment.
These were not actual American Girl dolls. They were not being marketed to children. Tourists cannot buy them on Fifth Avenue as their souvenir from their NYC summer vacation. So, at least there was that. Though you do have to wonder what the point of this ad campaign was. Is a 32-year-old man more likely to seek the clinic out because of it? Is a female contemporary going to get tested for sexually transmitted infections because of the images?
The other reason I decided to wait it out is that I thought, Surely, once just the littlest amount of attention is brought to this marketing campaign, even an abortion clinic will think better of it.
This morning, I saw that the dreams of sexually active American Girl dolls in need of abortion, contraception, and, of course, gender-transition help are taking on a life of their own among critics on the right.
Let’s hope that doesn’t make for the creation of an actual line just to ramp up the anger on all sides.
Mercifully, Mattel never actually introduced an Abortion Barbie (even if the phrase had its news cycle, inspired by Texas, of all places, a few moons ago now).
American Girl would be wise to make a statement about the innocence of American girls, as the Lovering nonsense gets more publicity.
In a sense, it does not rise to the level of Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, or Target and pride month, but it’s indicative of a sick culture calling out for adults to be adults and protect children and (what should be an) innocence of youth culture.