The fallout for Mia Plecic over her US abortion remarks continues to get worse. Photo / Instagram
The fallout for Mia Plecic over her US abortion remarks continues to get worse. Photo / Instagram
The influencer who sparked controversy after comparing abortion rights to the anti-vax argument has lost a major deal with an Australian retailer and been publicly lashed by local radio presenter and former reality TV star, Abbie Chatfield.
Melbourne entrepreneur Mia Plecic sparked anger after she reacted to Friday's US SupremeCourt decision to overturn abortion rights, saying it is no different to the loss of freedom Australians faced from Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
Millions of American women lost the legal right to have an abortion after the landmark ruling.
Roe v Wade has been in place since 1973, and provided women and other people with uteruses the right to access safe abortions up until foetal viability.
Her views angered many, with some labelling it "embarrassing" and arguing you can't compare "being forced to see a pregnancy to term, give birth and then raise the child" with "being slightly delayed in when you could go eat in restaurants."
Now Australian e-tailer Showpo, which stocks her brand's popular Slick Stick, has confirmed it will "not be renewing" its partnership with Plecic.
The company confirmed the move to a concerned customer who messaged Showpo on Instagram, asking: "Why would Showpo stock a product with such a problematic owner such as Mia Plecic."
Australian retailer Showpo has confirmed it is dropping Ms Plecic's beauty brand. Photo / Instagram
A spokesperson for Showpo responded to the customer's message, confirming the $24.95 (NZ$27.40) hair wand – used to "tame" flyaways – was being dropped from the shopping platform.
"As a brand we will not be renewing our partnership with Slick Hair company to stock their products on our website and we're effectively exiting out of this brand.
"Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with."
A screenshot of the interaction has been shared by Aussie Influencer Opinions and news.com.au has verified its authenticity with Showpo.
Abbie Chatfield responds to Plecic's comments
Abbie Chatfield also weighed in on the storm around Plecic's comments, speaking about it on her podcast It's A Lot on Tuesday.
In a segment on the episode dedicated to the American abortion ruling, Chatfield discussed Plecic's public comments on the matter.
"First of all babes, now I've said this a million times so I'm not going to go into anti-vaxxing again because it's a rabbit hole, but lets remember – no one forced you to get vaccinated," Chatfield said.
"I'm sure you're still not vaccinated, so you actually aren't forced, whereas people who get pregnant in the US are now forced to carry to term.
"Also, abortions aren't contagious, Covid is and also, you are wilfully misunderstanding the 'my body, my choice' slogan."
Abbie Chatfield has now slammed the Melbourne influencer over her 'ignorant' opinion. Photo / Instagram @abbiechatfield
Chatfield went on to argue Plecic was "acting as if it means the same thing" – stating: "No it doesn't."
She also argued the slogan had been hijacked by anti-vaxxers who used it to enhance their own message, claiming people who are actually "pro-choice" were furious by the move.
"Stop using our slogan," she said, audibly furious. "Stop f**king using it. I'm sick of your sh*t."
She then went on to say while lockdowns were "hard", they were there "for a reason" – blasting Plecic for attempting to draw a comparison between the two.
"Babe, the mandates were there for a reason. I don't know if there's something wrong [with her] or she's wilfully ignorant or just a bit silly."
Anger over influencer's Roe v Wade views
Plecic's comments came to light after being shared by Instagram account Aussie Influencer Opinions.
The business owner, who has 16,000 followers, argued there was a double standard in the outrage to the US Supreme Court ruling, sharing another Melbourne user's post that called out Australians for not standing up for protesting anti-vaxxers during last year's lockdown.
Social media users were furious when Ms Plecic shared this post. She then doubled down, further igniting the fury. Photo / Instagram @miaplecic
Despite being criticised for her post, she doubled down, in a follow-up Instagram story where she claimed to be pro-choice, which she applied to all situations, including vaccines and women's bodies.
"I'm pro choice. Your body, your choice. Period," she told news.com.au on Saturday.
However social media users saw red, flooding Aussie Influencer Opinions's post in outrage.
"Covid is contagious, and pregnancy is not. Simple really," said one.
"Lost touch with reality," commented another.
While one said: "This is so embarrassing."
Last year, Plecic made headlines for her strong anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination stances but ended up issuing an apology over her "political view" after receiving some backlash.
