20-foot inflatable IUD, reproductive rights advocates make stop in Nashville
“Every Republican voted against our right to contraception,” State Rep. Gloria Johnson said. “This is terrifying for women and girls in Tennessee.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A giant, inflatable intrauterine device (IUD) touring the country with reproductive rights advocates made a stop in Nashville on Friday.
Americans for Contraception, State Rep. Gloria Johnson and State Sen. Charlane Oliver came together in the shadow of the 20-foot inflatable IUD to discuss their concerns with contraception protections in Tennessee and the United States.
The IUD made its first appearance in Washington, D.C., before the Senate voted against the Right to Contraception Act. The Right to Contraception Act set out to protect a person’s right to access birth control and a medical provider’s right to prescribe it, advocates said. However, Senate Republicans blocked the bill, similar to how Tennessee Republicans treated Johnson’s proposed contraception bill this past legislation session, she said.
“(The bill) was killed on a party-line vote,” she said. “Every Republican voted against our right to contraception. This is terrifying for women and girls in Tennessee.”
Johnson said it’s an obligation of lawmakers to ensure women continue to have access to contraception.
“One of the best contraceptive methods is the IUD and also the most expensive. We need to make sure that everyone has access,” Johnson said. “Women and girls are at risk because they are being forced to carry pregnancies in this state. Even women whose lives are in danger, even women who have not chosen to have a pregnancy, women who have been raped, are forced to carry a pregnancy in Tennessee. We have got to make sure that every method of contraception is available in Tennessee. We’re going to keep pushing. We’re not going to let these men make these decisions for us. They don’t even understand biology – most of them quite frankly.”
Oliver said the U.S. has “come to a fork in the road” on sentiment regarding contraception and other reproductive health issues, like abortion. She said contraception serves as a “safeguard” for women to choose not to get pregnant.
“We don’t need men who don’t know what it’s like to carry a child, to birth a child and to raise a child to tell us what to do with our bodies,” she said.
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