Laura Packard: On the Road with Freeda, Americans for Contraception’s 20-foot inflatable IUD
By Laura Packard
A 20+ foot inflatable IUD requires very particular care and handling. It’s unclear what happens if a generator gets rained on, but it’s very clear what happens if you put a tarp over that generator in pouring rain. Expect rapid deflation, quite possibly on live television.
This is life on the road with Freeda, the Americans for Contraception’s enormous inflatable IUD. A modern Lady Liberty, Freeda is a symbol for the rights and freedoms we may have taken for granted before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, opening the door for more restrictions and bans on reproductive health care.
While Freeda takes the form of an IUD, she represents the full spectrum of contraceptive methods: condoms, the pill, the patch, the ring, and more. This inclusive representation is crucial to reinforce the importance for people to have full autonomy and choices, especially considering the complex history of reproductive coercion and contraception.
When the folks at Americans for Contraception were planning out what we wanted to do to bring attention to the birth control crisis we are facing, we made the decision to pack up Freeda and take her across the country on a road tour for awareness and education. Wherever we stopped, we explained our travels: we had a giant IUD with us because we are facing a huge problem. Republican lawmakers and their extremist allies are coming after our reproductive freedoms. All of them.
We are one radical right-wing court decision away from losing our basic rights. They were never going to stop at abortion. Earlier this year, access to IVF fertility treatments was threatened when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are children. And now, a federal appeal court is being asked to apply Clarence Thomas’ views to birth control and same-sex marriage.
But here’s the thing: contraception is not controversial with voters – only with Republican elected officials. According to Gallup, roughly nine in ten Americans support birth control. Our national poll found that most voters believe their access to control is at risk, and more than 80% of voters said that protecting the right to contraception was “deeply important.” Even among Republican voters, 72% said they support birth control.
Yet Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked the Right to Contraception Act when it came up for a vote this summer, with only two Republican Senators listening to their constituents and supporting it. Zero Republicans in the U.S. House have stepped up to support a discharge petition on it this year. At the state level, Republican lawmakers have also blocked versions of the legislation protecting the right to contraception in 12 states (AL, AZ, FL, GA, IA, LA, MS, NC, TN, WI). That includes Republican Governors Glenn Youngkin in Virginia and Joe Lombardo in Nevada, who vetoed the bills that came to their desks.
Project 2025, the Trump-Vance policy agenda, would, if implemented, take away free emergency contraception access from 48 million women. And it’s unlikely the restrictions would stop there. Some conservatives are spreading misinformation about IUDs, emergency contraception, and even the birth control pill, in order to lay the groundwork for restricting or banning them altogether.
Especially given the circumstances we are in, it was an honor for me to tour Florida and other states with our inflatable IUD; both as an Americans for Contraception board member and as someone with a personal stake in this fight.
I’m a cancer survivor. Years ago, my oncologist sat me down and explained to me that pregnancy is like a stress test for your body. Unfortunately, that is a test I might not pass.
An unplanned pregnancy could threaten my health, and even my life. Yet given my health history, some contraceptive options are not on the table any more. Who should be making these life or death medical decisions for my body: me and my doctor, or a politician like JD Vance? I know who I trust for health advice, and it’s not Clarence Thomas or Donald Trump.
Millions of Americans face these kinds of dilemmas every day. On the Freeda tour in Baltimore, I met a young woman from Austin with endometriosis. She has an IUD to manage her medical condition. Does JD Vance get to overrule her doctor and tell her no, you don’t get to keep your IUD because he has a personal objection?
Whether you’re using contraception to manage a medical condition, or simply because you and your partner are not ready to grow your family, your freedom to make that decision is under attack.
Now is the time to fight back. We urge you to join us as the stakes have never been higher – you can visit our site and look out for the giant, inflatable IUD in your town or city.
Laura Packard is a stage 4 cancer survivor and health care advocate, board member of Americans for Contraception, and executive director of Health Care Voter.
