A Texas mom is offering emergency contraceptives for free at her coffee shop: 'It was just something in my heart that I knew I needed to do'
When you think of a small town coffee shop, emergency contraceptives may not be the first thing that you'd imagine ordering.
But for Tumbleweed and Sage, a coffee house in the Wolfforth suburb of Lubbock, Texas, offering free Plan B's alongside top-tier coffees was a no-brainer.
"It was just something in my heart that I knew I needed to do," Destiny Adams, who opened Tumbleweed and Sage with her husband in April 2020, tells Yahoo Life.
Adams partnered with Jane's Due Process, an organization that helps young people in Texas access confidential abortion and birth control options and assistance navigating parental consent laws, in July and has provided over 70 emergency contraceptive kits so far.
Jane's Due Process provides all of the supplies, which include condoms, emergency contraceptives, pregnancy tests and informational pamphlets, all in a discreet little white bag. Since everything is provided by Jane's Due Process, a title ten non-profit organization, none of the business funds from Tumbleweed and Sage are used, making it completely legal. They also do not ask or track any of the people who come in for the bags which are offered in the bathrooms and drive-through for maximum confidentiality.
"We do not ask questions, we do not profile. It's kind of a free for all who can come and get it," says Adams.
Emergency contraceptive pills, such as Plan B, One-Step, My Way, Take Action and generic versions, prevent pregnancy up to five days after having unprotected sex, according to Planned Parenthood, and do not induce abortion.
Despite no legal ramifications for the offerings, community members have made their displeasure with the services known.
"We were reported to the local police department for 'handing out drugs,' the local police department was called about 10 times every hour on the hour about us, [protestors] reporting us, that they wanted to shut us down," Adams's says of the harassment she has received following the partnership.
"We had protesters outside our storefront with posters about abortion, saying pro-life and all that fun stuff," she says sarcastically, adding that she eventually disconnected the shop's landline. "We have had calls; we actually unplugged our office phone due to the number of calls that we get that are not coffee related."
But none of this has deterred Adams, who believes that people like her are needed in conservative towns — now more than ever.
"There is no place here in Wolfforth to buy Plan B and there's one place to buy any type of condoms or anything," says Adams." So we were like, 'OK, we might as well just go for it," she says.
Prior to the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June, Lubbock already had some of the most restrictive legislation surrounding abortion access. In May 2021, Lubbock became the largest city in Texas to ban abortions within city limits.
Adams herself has been on the receiving end of heckling from protestors at Planned Parenthood when she went in for non-abortion-related appointments.
"We as small business owners do not have health insurance, the doctor I went to see first was at Planned Parenthood and there were people outside protesting at Planned Parenthood, calling me baby killer as I was going in to get a pregnancy test. I knew very well I was going to keep my son no matter what," she says. This struck Adams as particularly strange because the Planned Parenthood in Lubbock doesn't even offer abortions.
"[Texas is] very strict about [abortion] here, so seeing those people there kind of riled me up," she says.
"It's really hard on me as a mother because, you know, I bring my child to work with me as a small business owner every day and as I'm bringing him in, in his car seat, I literally get yelled at 'baby killer,' which is horrible," she says.
Unphased by the crude comments, Adams has become even more invested in the cause after having her own child.
"When Roe v. Wade was overturned, and I had my baby, of course, I was just like, 'Hey, I need to do something more," she says. "Not everyone has the privilege to be able to take care of a child, not everyone has the privilege to have access to health care, or even have money for Plan B," she says.
While polarizing politics is often a reason many people flee their hometowns, Adams has no plans to leave Lubbock, where she feels her talents are best utilized.
"I feel like that representation is needed more here in Lubbock and in Wolffer," she says, lamenting that discomfort is simply a part of change.
"In order to make people feel comfortable to come to our schools, especially Texas Tech, young women need to have a place like my shop that will invite them here and make them feel comfortable just like they were in a big city in order to get those people here. It's all just part of growing and I think the few people that are protesting it are just having growing pains," she says.
Despite a solid conservative presence in Lubbock, with 62% of voters backing a 2021 ordinance that would make Lubbock a "sanctuary city for the unborn," Adams says there has been much more positive feedback than negative.
"We have had so much support that we recently had to post a wish list; we are expanding what we hand out in our restroom," she says."We actually have an Amazon wishlist for feminine hygiene products, for diapers and wipes for babies, for toothbrushes, deodorant, dental dams, condoms, everything that is more inclusive for our community," she says, but the emergency contraceptives are not going anywhere anytime soon. "That will be alongside our Plan B kits so that we can help people in more than one way."
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