Feminist journalist Jessica Valenti went on a tirade against Rite Aid on Twitter on Tuesday, asking the company why they don’t let people “steal” diapers when they need them.
Valenti tweeted a picture he took at his local Rite Aid in New York City, showing Pampers and Huggies diapers locked behind a glass case. A pro-choice writer blamed the Supreme Court’s overruling of Dobbs v. Roe and Wade for an increasingly widespread anti-theft measure.
“This is the baby aisle at my local Rite Aid. We’re a country that wants to force women to give birth and then cover their diapers,” she said.
“It really is the epitome of American motherhood,” Valenti added.
WALMART CEO DAG MCMILLON SAYS THEFTS ARE “HISTORICALLY HIGHER.”
Baby diapers are among the most frequently shoplifted household and personal items.
(iStock)
Valenti even called for retailers to allow theft because it would be more “practical.”
“On a more practical level: how about letting people steal diapers if they need to? I hope it’s a universal value to ensure babies don’t sit in their own filth,” he tweeted .
In subsequent tweets, Valenti mocked the idea that people shoplift for reasons other than desperation, saying the company’s efforts to stop shoplifting were meant to hurt low-income customers.
ECONOMICS SAYS RETAIL THEFT RISES INFLATION, BLOODING BUSINESSES AT RISK
Signs are seen at Rite Aid Corp. in Toms River, New Jersey, on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. displayed outside the address.
(Angus Moran/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Law enforcement (especially in New York State) wants us to believe they exist ruthless gangs of shoplifters who are interested in diapers for reasons other than keeping babies clean. It’s disgusting,” he wrote.
Valenti added, “I’m curious to see if diapers are locked in other parts of New York. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my local Rite Aid is the closest to a public housing development.”
Valenti’s topic caused some controversy from other journalists.
Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle explained to Valenti why diapers and household items are commonly shoplifted.
“Diapers and Tide are among the most shoplifted items because there is a constant resale market, but the value is low enough to avoid prosecution,” he wrote in the response.
In Real Clear Investigations, conservative writer Mark Hemingway hit back at Valenti for linking the issue to abortion.
“If you think moms in need should get free diapers, tell your pro-abortion friends to stop torching pregnancy centers that provide them,” she wrote.
RITE AID can place all store items in display cases due to theft in New York City.
Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan and Chief Retail Officer Andre Persaud blamed the thefts in New York City for the company’s loss of millions of dollars last quarter. Persaud said in October that the company was considering “putting everything behind locked displays” as a way to combat the problem.
A number of other drugstore and retail giants, including CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart and Home Depot, also reported. “growing” problems with theft.
Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli called theft and burglary an “epidemic.”Spreads faster than COVID.”
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon also said the rise in crime would force some stores to close and raise prices.
has reached out to Rite Aid for comment.
Fox Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Kristen Altus contributed to this report.