sugarncyanide:

thatsocialjusticebitch:

transgenderstudentlife:

thisgenderedlife:

PCOS and ovarian cysts can be life threatening. There are at least four people I know and love who have experienced the excruciating, disabling pain caused by ovarian cysts. Do you know what it’s like to see a person you love in so much pain that they’re vomiting, crying, curled up in a ball and refuse to move because it hurts too much to even open their eyes? Hormonal contraceptives do more than prevent pregnancy. You want to protect life? Start with the people who are already living.

Although PCOS & ovarian cysts largely affect women, anyone with ovaries is affected. Ovarian cysts are VERY common, however, most people don’t know they have them. Those who are aware know because either the ovarian cyst(s) burst causing excruciating pain, or the cyst(s) themselves cause excruciating, often debilitating pain (e.g. PCOS). The development of ovarian cysts and the likelihood of one or more bursting is often genetic- which means people generally have no control over whether or not they have ovarian cysts or if one or more burst.

I have had 2 ovarian cysts burst in the past, though I’m sure I have more cysts. I thought my appendix burst, or I had torn through a muscle in my abdomen. I could barely sit up, let alone walk, and I had to drive myself to the doctor the first time. I had to get a painkiller shot that prevented me from driving home it was so powerful- it knocked me out almost instantly because it was so painful. The second time, my doctor’s office was closed, and I had to wait in the emergency room for 2+ hours for them to tell me they thought it was a gas bubble and that they couldn’t do anything. My doctor told me later (based on how I described the pain, where it was, and the fact that I’d had one burst before) that it was very likely that it was an ovarian cyst bursting again.

I didn’t know before this that there was a prevention. Now that I do, AND that it is up to people without ovaries to decide whether it is available- I will fight every battle I need to.

The government knows hormonal contraception can prevent ovarian cysts.

*NOTE: (My best attempt at a privilege check- I’m still learning how to phrase privilege checks, so please be nice while I learn) I realize I have no right to be in women’s spaces, as I am not a woman, however this is an issue that affects everyone with ovaries.

this is why i’m on birth control.

Birth control is so incredibly important to women*. I’m not on it because of cysts, but the reason I originally went on it was because my periods were so unbearably painful that I spent my days curled up with a heating pad and crying because it hurt so bad. I would get bad gas build-up that hurt so much I couldn’t breathe and on the first and second days I would throw up multiple times. The rest of the week I would be unbearably nauseous. I would often faint, yes, faint, and many times it was on my way to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to vomit. I have hit my head on the toilet bowl or shower door 3 or 4 times because of this, and I remember always waking up in a cold sweat, seeing black, and barely being able to hear the sound of my mom’s warped voice frantically trying to wake me up. The same exact thing happened when I went to Germany, and my host family actually called the paramedics because they were so worried. It was terrifying. Now that I’m on birth control, all that has stopped. My periods are totally normal now, the worst of my worries being the annoying cramps. And, now that I’m sexually active, birth control is even more useful and crucial to my health.

The men who are trying to take away birth control are ignorant monsters. They are cruel. They want to force women* into a state of slavery, forced to be incubators and parents against their will. They want to force women into debilitating pain and humiliating situations, all in the name of “religious freedom”. This country has seen an appalling resurgence of misogyny, anti-choice and anti-woman* measures, gender inequality, ignorance and sheer cruelty in the past year. It’s disgusting, and I’m truly terrified. I think we all should be.