I’m Thankful For… IUDs
A Thanksgiving series from the Center for Biological Diversity (Part 1 of 3)
For many, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and give thanks, and this series highlights a few of the things that make the Center’s Population and Sustainability team thankful. However, while we are giving thanks, we should not forget that this holiday is rooted in colonialism and oppression which is still being fought today. We stand with indigenous people in their fight.
I probably won’t bring this up around the family table while the potatoes get passed and my dad and my uncle vie for the last slice of canned cranberry sauce, but what I’m most thankful for is the IUD, especially my own.
The IUD, or intrauterine device, is a form of long acting birth control that works for three to twelve years, depending on the type of device that you get. I’m about two years into my IUDship and, even if we ignore the ease of not having to refill a prescription or take a pill every day, the cost benefits or the lower hormone levels that mean I experience fewer negative side effects, getting an IUD is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Look, I’m not going to dance around the issue. We’re all adults here. Having sex without having to worry about an accidental pregnancy is basically the best. And the IUD is 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. Birth control pills and condoms have a similar rating… until you factor in human error (like forgetting to take the pill or putting a condom on incorrectly) which causes their effectiveness to drop to 91 percent and 82 percent, respectively. The “set it and forget it” ease makes taking control of reproduction a no-brainer for many women.
And ease and effectiveness matter. In Colorado, the much touted Colorado Family Planning Initiative provided IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraceptives to low-income and teenage women at little to no cost. Unintended pregnancies dropped by 24 percent. Maybe that’s why IUD use has exploded by 83 percent nationally since 2010. And with nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States unintended, the IUD boom could be a game-changer.
And that matters to more than just women like me not ready to make a tiny human. Our population has grown incredibly fast over the past two centuries and completely skyrocketed in the last 50 years alone, from around 3.4 billion to 7.4 billion people. That growth, and our incredible, seemingly insatiable demand for resources, has put the hurt on wildlife and the environment. In fact, in the same 50 years that our population has more than doubled, wildlife populations have been cut in half.
If we want to live in a world with wildlife (and I for one do), we need to do something about the population problem. Making sure every child is planned is a good first step. So my IUD isn’t only good for me, it’s good for wildlife.
Because here’s the thing: choosing to have fewer or no children at all is critical to solving the population problem. And that means making sure that everyone has the education and resources that allow them to plan the perfect family for them and for the planet. Unfortunately, the last few years have been particularly hard on reproductive rights. And a Trump/Pence White House does not bode well for the future – for women or wildlife.
So part of the fight to protect endangered species like wolves and grizzly bears is fighting to protect a woman’s right to choose. If we want to see species recovering in the wild, we also have to ensure that everyone has access to the type of contraception, like IUDs, that is right for them. And it turns out that talking to your kids about the birds and the bees is also good, well, for the birds and the bees.
So while you might not be ready to talk about safe sex with grandma at the dinner table, maybe this Thanksgiving start the conversation about how we can help wild plants and animals and stop unsustainable human population growth.
Leigh Moyer is the population organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity.
