ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A giant IUD-shaped inflatable named Freeda Womb appeared in Allentown’s Arts Park Monday, its latest stop in a national tour aiming to mobilize voters around contraception access.
When activists with Americans For Contraception found the 20-foot inflatable in a warehouse a few months ago, they said it seemed like a perfect match for this moment, as they worked to persuade Americans that access to birth control is at risk.
“It's tough for people to understand exactly how big the stakes are."Anthony Campisi, part of Americans for Contraception’s communication staff
“It's tough for people to understand exactly how big the stakes are,” said Anthony Campisi, part of Americans for Contraception’s communication staff.
“Something like this sort of cuts through the clutter and makes people focus and pay attention.”
Freeda’s tour began in June in Washington, D.C., and continued on to more than 15 states over the past few months.
The tour stopped in Allentown, Campisi said, in part to draw attention to the race for Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional district between Democratic incumbent Susan Wild and Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie.
Wild has co-sponsored the Right to Contraception Act, a bill enshrining a right to access contraception in federal law.
Plus, “If Pennsylvania is a swing state, the Lehigh Valley is like a bellwether region within Pennsylvania,” Campisi said. “It makes all the sense in the world to come here and explain to people what their congresswoman is doing.”
Bills in limbo
State Representative Michael Schlossberg, a democrat representing part of Lehigh County, endorsed the federal proposal Monday and argued that access to common reproductive care is in jeopardy.
“The right to access in-vitro fertilization as well as the right to birth control — for a woman to control what happens to her body when she chooses — is more threatened than ever.”State Representative Michael Schlossberg
“The right to access in-vitro fertilization as well as the right to birth control — for a woman to control what happens to her body when she chooses — is more threatened than ever,” Schlossberg said.
He pointed to a concurring opinion U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas authored in 2022 calling to revisit Griswold v. Connecticut, a landmark ruling that bars states from banning contraception.
Schlossberg used the occasion to endorse HB1140, a bill from state Rep. Leanne Krueger (D-Delaware County) mandating a statewide standing order for most over-the-counter contraceptive drugs.
HB1140 also would require the state’s insurance providers to cover contraception without charging a copay.
Most organizations insuring their employees could get an exemption on religious or moral grounds.
HB1140 passed the state House in June, but currently awaits a hearing in the Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee.
The Right to Contraception Act has not advanced since being introduced in the U.S. House.
“If this truly was not a live issue,” Campisi said, “there would be no trouble rushing these bills to the governor's desk, to the president's desk.”
Freeda’s tour is not over. On Tuesday, the inflatable will rise outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, just in time for the presidential debate planned between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
