I Got An IUD Right After The Election Because The Threat Is Real

The morning I found out Trump was president, I didn't want to get out of bed.

As a straight white female, I wasn't sad for myself; I was so sad for the majority of America that's made to feel like the minority.

I was so sad that the frightened had been validated, and that the answers to their problems were to alienate other races, sexual orientation, classes and gender.

I was sad for the young women in poverty or in red states who would now have a harder time getting access to birth control or emergency contraception.

Someone who says they can "grab women by the pussy" thinks we, as females, belong to him. He believes love can be bought and sex is on his terms.

Before I had a second to reconsider, I scheduled an appointment to get my IUD.

An IUD stands for Intra-Uterine Device.

The one I received, Paragard, prevents sperm from joining with an egg by interfering with the movement of the sperm toward the egg.

I chose the IUD covered in copper to fight off sperm naturally, opposed to the other IUDs that release hormones. While I was marching on Washington holding a sign for seven hours, my lil IUD was holding on strong for me too.

Trump is like the parent who still shames you from getting tattoos at the age of 25. It's ridiculous to be told what to do with our bodies as adults.

Don't be scared, don't be shamed; if he really valued life, he'd let women decide how to live theirs. Yes an IUD hurts for a second with insertion, so does a tattoo. But your body is yours and the choice is yours. And it feels fucking powerful to make that decision for yourself.

I feel so fortunate to have gotten an IUD. Now I don't live in fear of Trump or getting pregnant. I love and fuck and feel everything I want to feel.

I remember laughing when the gynecologist put jelly on my belly as I received my first ultra sound.

It was just a cute little rod with wings nestled up inside me. I asked if I could take a picture and she laughed and let me. Some people thought it was weird that I posted the ultra sound of my IUD.

But I thought it was weird that it's so acceptable when people do it for a baby. Aren't you all just as proud of me for making the same empowering choice but a different decision?

Now that Trump is president, if I became pregnant now I may be forced by old white male strangers to keep it. That picture of him signing the anti-abortion executive order surrounded by men made women around the world sick to their stomach.

These men don't know me; they don't know I've had 15 survival jobs, 10 unpaid internships and hundreds of job applications to get to where I am now.

They don't know that if I got pregnant, I would have to quit my job, move back home with my parents and forget my dreams. They don't know that I do plan on having a family one day and I do value life, and I'll tell my children about the protests I went to for them so I'd have the right to choose the perfect time to raise them.

So yes, I spread my legs like the nasty woman that I am, and I got "freedom of choice" shoved up my pussy and liberation clamped on my uterus.

For the next 10 years, no matter what awful laws Trump or other politicians try to pass, he won't be able to grab this pussy's right to love, fuck and help birth a generation that won't let this happen again.