Rising above sea and sand, an inflatable IUD stands 20 feet tall Tuesday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
The intrauterine device — IUD for short — is on a nationwide tour, with stops in Las Vegas, St. Louis and Miami, to raise awareness about access to contraception.
IUDs, condoms, birth control pills and other methods of preventing pregnancy are under legal threat, said Katie Baker, representing Americans for Contraception, the group running the tour.
“We want to make sure we are codifying it at a state level and at the federal level to ensure we’re protecting people’s right to obtain and use contraceptives,” Baker said.
It’s been two years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the constitutional right to an abortion.
In a concurring opinion in the Dobbs case, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should reconsider decisions protecting contraceptive access. Measures protecting access to birth control at the state and federal level failed earlier this year.
In May, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed Virginia’s Right to Contraception Act, a bill that passed the General Assembly. In June, a federal Right to Contraception bill was blocked in the Senate.
Julie O’Brien, a self-described birth control enthusiast from Richmond, was in town Tuesday.
“I have an IUD of my own — not as big as that one, of course,” O’Brien said. “I want to protect my right to continue to get IUDs.”
The inflatable IUD will continue its tour in Richmond on Wednesday.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
