Birth control can have many great benefits, some of which include regulating menstrual cycles, controlling acne, and, obviously, helping prevent women from becoming pregnant and having children before they are ready to do so.
Republicans love to try and prevent women from getting access to birth control, and then try to outlaw abortions too. As if a woman must become pregnant regardless of her desire to do so.
Many women are being forced to choose more long-term birth control options, or to choose methods that they may not have chosen otherwise. One Twitter user is a nurse at a women’s clinic, and she is witnessing the effects of this.
She had a patient curse House Speaker Paul Ryan while having her intrauterine device (IUD) inserted. The nurse tweeted:
“This was funny, yes. But the meaning behind it is what should frustrate everyone. With all of the threats to reproductive health care, women everywhere are feeling pressured to get long-acting contraception. A lot of docs won’t even provide IUDs if you haven’t had children. It’s very stupid. So women feel pushed to get IUDs or implants when that may not be the right choice for them ultimately. So once again, the choice is being taken away from women. So sincerely, fuck you, Paul Ryan.”
She works at one of the few Planned Parenthood clinics left in Iowa. She also said:
“We see women who are rushing to get long-acting contraception because they feel they are backed into a corner. These women are afraid of losing their coverage and their clinics altogether while this administration is in power. On one hand, it makes me so happy that we can provide these services and contraceptive methods to women, but it is so frustrating when you understand the fact that women are, once again, feeling like their choice and their bodily autonomy is being taken away from them.”
For most women, a contraceptive pill or the Depo-Provera shot is a better choice, but they are losing faith in having access to medical care to be able to get refills on the pills or the shot. IUDs can last five to ten years, depending on which version is inserted.
Check out Trevor Noah’s take on Paul Ryan’s health care “bluff” (after the jump):
Featured image via Twitter.
