Though Planned Parenthood organizations did everything possible to prevent it, in July 2025, the Trump administration and Congress forced through a law blocking patients from using Medicaid for care at Planned Parenthood health centers, which they called “defunding” Planned Parenthood. As health centers were forced to close — nearly 30 since July 2025 — patients lost one of the few places they could go in an already underfunded, attacked health system.
To illustrate the harm of 'defunding' Planned Parenthood, PPFA needed to connect patients' worsened health care experiences directly to the abstract political attacks launched by the Trump administration and its backers in Congress. To do this, we hosted an in-person experiential activation, “No Matter What: A Pop-up by Planned Parenthood.” The pop-up evoked a profound emotional response from attendees and moved them to action. We immersed them in a space that grounded them in the care Planned Parenthood health centers provide, educated them about the harm caused by “defunding" Planned Parenthood, invited them to hear from people who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for care, and showed them how, together, we can be a part of the good fight: to ensure our bodies are our own.
People are living through a constantly chaotic news cycle and world. They’re looking for connections with people and organizations that share their values and can make a difference in their lives. Our pop-up educated, connected with, and motivated them to take actions to protect Planned Parenthood and the care patients count on.
Our objectives focused on transforming the abstract concept of “defunding” Planned Parenthood into a concrete demonstration of the harm it inflicted on patients, highlighting who is to blame for this harm and the resilience of Planned Parenthood’s communities.
We gave our audience an immersive experience that galvanized them, transforming the emotions and empathy they felt into meaningful actions. And we designed a space that was optimized for digital and social amplification to ensure our content lived beyond the physical pop-up.
For three days in June, the “No Matter What” pop-up lived near Washington Square Park in New York City, bringing us significant foot traffic. Hosting the experiential event in New York also gave us access to cultural amplifiers, who posted our content on their channels and shared what they learned with their audiences.
The pop-up was designed to take people on an emotional journey, leading them to take action. First we piqued visitors’ interest by sharing health centers’ services and defining Planned Parenthood’s values. We reminded them of the importance of being cared for, feeling empowered, and building your own future. Then we showed the barriers — literally, using an immersive and all-encompassing maze — people seeking health care have dealt with since the Trump administration and its backers in Congress “defunded” Planned Parenthood.
We encouraged empathetic connections between attendees and storytellers who received irreplaceable care at a health center. Through a series of projections and set elements, attendees felt like they were in the room with patients and a provider who have firsthand experience at Planned Parenthood, seeing themselves and their loved ones in the stories. Remarkably, people sat around a table with each other through an eight-plus-minute video. They were so moved by the video of the storytellers that we had to fill the room with tissues.
Finally, we gave them a series of easy ways to support sexual and reproductive health and rights in the moment and in the future. They shared their own stories, wrote postcards about why they’re for Planned Parenthood to send to potential supporters around the country, and sat at tables together in discussion, while coloring their bespoke and customizable “I’m For Planned Parenthood” totebags. Most people came alone or in small groups, yet the tables were always full with people sharing their designs, stories, and views with each other. They gave us their time and built community around the values they shared with both the people at the table and with Planned Parenthood.
The “No Matter What” pop-up was a resounding success, effectively achieving profound in-person emotional depth with expansive digital reach.
Nearly 600 people attended the pop up, with the average visit lasting over 30 minutes and often extending to more than an hour. This sustained engagement was remarkably effective: 90.6% of respondents reported the event helped them understand the harm of "defunding" Planned Parenthood significantly. Attendees didn't just leave informed; they left as ambassadors.
We also designed the space for easy digital amplification, partnering with creators and achieving coverage from media outlets like Variety, Alternativa Caribe, and Page 6. Notable celebrities and influencers like Sofia Coppola, Lucy Halliday, Levi Sebree, and Tiff Baria attended and shared their experience with their followers. This strategy maximized our visibility, reaching over 35 million people with our message: Our bodies are our own, and we all deserve care.
Most importantly, we successfully bridged the gap between emotion and action. Over two-thirds of attendees took a direct, meaningful action — such as writing postcards or sharing their story — demonstrating that our immersive, values-driven storytelling was a powerful catalyst for mobilization. By creating a space that fostered genuine community, we not only educated our audience but also solidified their commitment to the fight for bodily autonomy. We proved that when people feel deeply connected to a cause, they are ready to act.
