A giant inflatable birth control device swayed gently in the wind on Wilkes-Barre Public Square Monday morning.
Dubbed "Freeda Womb," the 20-foot-tall intrauterine device, or IUD, served as a whimsical way of making a serious point.
“No one should have to check in with politicians and judges about their health care decisions,” Jessica Brittain shouted into the microphone to applause.
Brittain, Action Together NEPA’s organizing and communications director, was among speakers looking to raise awareness of potential political limitations on birth control ahead of November's election.
It's a real risk, organizers said. That comes in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade and the national right to abortion. And access to contraception was the subject of legislation which was defeated in the U.S. Senate this summer.
Freeda Womb’s visit also came ahead of Tuesday night's presidential debate in Philadelphia, in which reproductive rights will be a topic to watch.
But with a giant IUD looming overhead, Brittain didn't lose sight of the lighter side, either.
“It's easy to get bogged down in fear and all of the threats that are coming, especially at women," she said. "We can also have fun with this, and we can bring some joy to the work that we're doing and create some excitement around it.”
Americans for Contraception, a national nonprofit fighting for access to contraception, partnered with Action Together NEPA to bring the inflatable to Wilkes-Barre, localizing the organization’s national fight for contraception.
The group has been on tour with Freeda Womb all summer, hitting battleground states to talk about what they see as being at stake this election.
The tour started on June 5 in Washington, D.C., when the Senate was set to vote on the Right to Contraception Act. According to congressional records, the goal of the bill was, “to protect an individual’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception.”
The bill was defeated, so the organization decided to take their advocacy and the inflatable IUD on the road. The Wilkes-Barre stop is a part of a multi-day tour through Pennsylvania.
The IUD tour will continue Monday afternoon in Allentown and Tuesday in Philadelphia, across from the National Constitution Center which will host Tuesday night's presidential debate.
“Everybody knows that all electoral roads run through Pennsylvania, so it's informing and educating voters on how important this issue is,” said Americans for Contraception spokesperson Anthony Campisi said.
Advocates called out Republican lawmakers for their role in restricting birth control access.
“It could not be more clear that MAGA politicians want to take access to health care away, especially reproductive health care and access to contraception,” Brittain said.
Earlier this year, Former President Donald Trump faced blowback after saying he’d be open to placing restrictions on contraception. He almost immediately walked back his statement, taking to social media to say his words had been misinterpreted.
Organizers of the tour stop said they see access to contraception as a part of the reproductive healthcare debate that has fallen by the wayside — but also an issue that could potentially sway undecided voters come Election Day.
“I think a lot of folks don't believe that access to contraception has been threatened, and we need to make sure that folks all throughout the Northeast part of Pennsylvania understand that these threats are very, very real, and that their votes in November can have a huge impact on the freedoms that we desperately deserve,” Brittain said.
Wilkes University junior Jasmine High joined her professor and classmates at the square, eager to participate in discussion about an issue that is important to her.
“I'm a woman and I have my family members who are women,” High said. "I want them to have choices on what they want to do with their body.”
