A woman was kicked off an American Airlines flight Wednesday for bearing a shirt with the slogan “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d f*** a senator.”
The woman, unidentified, missed her connecting flight after the stewardess told her the captain needed to speak with her. The captain said the shirt was inappropriate and ordered her to change, otherwise she would not be permitted on the next plane. According to the Daily Mail, she was returning from a pro-choice* conference and had just landed in Washington, D.C.
“The only reason she was asked to cover up her T-shirt was the appearance of the ‘F-word’ on the T-shirt. The [pro-choice] message is irrelevant to our policy and had no bearing in our crew’s decision to ask her to cover up the F-word,” Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline said.
According to RH Reality Check, a site dedicated to reproductive justice, the woman was praised by another passenger for wearing the shirt, and no other passengers complained about the slogan.
The flight attendant did alert the connecting flight of her arrival, telling gate agents not that she would be late, but that she would be wearing the shirt. The woman was given a seat on a later flight after she covered the word with a shawl, the Daily Mail reported.
According to RH Reality Check, a petition has been started ordering American Airlines to apologize to the woman. More than 3,000 have signed.
*Correction: The woman was returning from a pro-choice — not a pro-life — conference, according to The Daily Mail.