Giant Inflatable IUD Descends on Miami

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's an inflatable IUD!

On Tuesday, the campaign Americans for Contraception kicked off its "IUD Express" Tour across the 305 to raise awareness and educate people about the need to protect contraceptives like intrauterine devices (IUDs) following Republicans' efforts to block a federal birth-control rights bill. As the morning began, and the streets of Miami's downtown began to fill with people, the group erected a 20-foot-tall inflatable IUD outside the Miami-Dade courthouse.

The lilac-colored device towered over lawmakers U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, as well as activists like Men4Choice's Aaron Bos-Lun, as they encouraged people to vote this upcoming election for lawmakers who will protect women's bodily autonomy.

"We have to make sure that we promote awareness in the fight to protect access to contraception," Wasserman Schultz said during the press conference.
The IUD-shaped balloon arrived in Miami less than two weeks after Senate Republicans — including Florida's own Rick Scott and Marco Rubio — blocked a bill that would have protected access to birth control pills, IUDs, emergency contraception, and other contraceptive methods at the federal level. The following week, Republicans blocked a bill that would have ensured federal protections for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a technology that helps people with infertility conceive.

Scott, who was among the GOP lawmakers who voted against IVF protections, unveiled an ad on social media less than a day later touting his support for IVF alongside the words: "Each of my 7 grandkids is a precious gift from God. But sometimes families need help. You can count on this grandpa to always protect IVF."

"This outsized birth control symbol will never compare to how colossally hypocritical Republicans are on this issue," Wasserman Schultz scoffed.

She added: "Don't pee on my foot and then tell me it's raining. These guys have absolutely no shame."

The now-famous inflatable IUD, which notably stood outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the Senate vote, has popped up across the country in recent weeks as a symbol of the fight to protect contraception rights.

In Miami, several event speakers stood in front of the blown-up IUD holding small red and yellow signs that read “CONTRACEPTION IS HEALTH CARE” and “AMERICANS FOR CONTRACEPTION.” A mobile billboard sat parked nearby with the words “FIRST ABORTION…THEN IVF…NOW CONTRACEPTION.”

Democratic State Rep. Ashley Gantt, who represents parts of Miami, recalled during the press conference how when Republicans passed a six-week abortion ban, she asked the bill sponsors: "How close to death does a woman have to be in order for medical care and doctors to intervene?"

They had no answer, she said.