Since the end of the election, there has been a lot of commotion over the topic of reproductive rights, pregnancy prevention and the threat that Trump presents to Planned Parenthood. A lot of social media users have already tweeted about the topic, urging women to get an IUD and to defend their reproductive rights.
Get your IUD. If you have light periods, opt for a Paragard, which can last 10-12 years. Get your birth control that will outlast Trump.
— Birth Control Fairy (@grimalkinrn) November 9, 2016
Some users argued this will not only affect liberals, but some Trump supporters as well.
All u white boys super hype that trump won just wait till u knock ur gf up and she doesn't have Planned Parenthood to go to
— BIG AL (@allysonnich) November 9, 2016
Planned Parenthood did not stay quiet, tweeting this in response to the threat:
Trump & Pence were clear that they'd block patients' access to care at Planned Parenthood. Chip in to fight back→ https://t.co/6LO9bt6bLf
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) November 9, 2016
On the other hand, there’s a good amount of Americans who support Trump and Pence’s stance on reproductive rights. They believe that Planned Parenthood is taking the lives of unborn children.
Dear @realDonaldTrump
Defund Planned Parenthood 100%
No more taxpayer funds for abortions. Stop funding this butcher house.
— General Deplorable (@HouseCracka) November 11, 2016
Although this specific tweet doesn’t bring up religion, it does express the views of pro-life supporters. Some tweets highlighted tax payer funds, arguing that it should not be devoted to abortions. This appears to be a common argument for many conservatives.
While researching about birth control and the election results, we found that there was a significant spike of tweets mentioning birth control and Trump the days following the election. The graph below shows the popularity of the tweets during that specific time containing the words mentioned before.
The graph below zooms in to the election week showing how there was a huge increase in these tweets over those following days.
Furthermore, we found that words such as women, birth, abortion, stocking, reproductive rights, Trump, and IUD were also mentioned in these tweets. As shown in the word cloud below, IUD was one of the most mentioned.
When doing our research, we assumed that the term IUD might be confusing and unfamiliar for a lot of people, especially men. So, do we really know what an IUD is? In this short video, we explain to you what it is and why it is important.
No need to be embarrassed guys — we have an everything you need to know about IUD's just for you. #NHBuzzfeed #IUD #birthcontrol #Trump pic.twitter.com/O2uub4EVJR
— Alex E. Álvarez (@aealvare) November 28, 2016
We won’t know exactly what will happen until Trump officially takes office.
For now, for those who are concerned, they can donate to Planned Parenthood and share their concerns with their local representatives.