EllaOne (morning-after pill brand) goes woke on twitter.

[PotholeParadies]

Text of tweet:

Anyone with a uterus may find themselves seeking the morning after pill at some point in their life. We see you and we support you!

#TransAwarenessWeek

ellaOne film-coated tablet. Ulipristal acetate.
Emergency contraception. Read label.
t.co/ll6a73Tk5Z^

I wasn't particularly bothered by that, but the final blow is the accompanying animation of a wibbling flag with the words "the morning after pill isn't just for cis-women".

Fuck off, EllaOne. You don't get to categorise me as a cis-woman.

I am who I say I am, to quote Amnesty International, and I pick woman.

I think you need ovaries and a functioning hypothalamus etc too tbh. The uterus is not much use on its own

“the morning after pill isn't just for cis-women".
They’re right, women use them too

@EyesOpening

“the morning after pill isn't just for cis-women". They’re right, women use them too

This. Fuck me, it's unreal isn't it. Every day there's something new that I think must be a parody. But no, it's real life... so depressing seeing women be erased from day to day life bit by bit.

When do women need to use the morning after pill? How often might trans men be in a similar situation? Why do a minuscule audience who will rarely use this product need to play such a central role in the marketing of it?

Being erased from items and products that we pay for.

How many women are there who want to be called someone with a uterus? There are a good amount of women who will accept it in order to be kind and to be inclusive to other people. But how many are there who would actually like being referred to that way, personally?

It's never "women and other people with a uterus" is it?

“ Anyone with a uterus ”
If they only use that phrase for Trans Awareness Week, then fair enough but otherwise, it’s a no from me

That’s a good point Melroses, other organs are needed to make a morning after pill needed. Even a corpse can have a uterus. A woman’s, of course. Although, their quote “anyone with a uterus” isn’t necessarily limited to humans so let’s be inclusive of other mammalian life, just to be on the safe side. Lovely to be bracketed with corpses and cows by a morning after pill marketer, isn’t it.

More seriously, who wants to be thinking about their uterus when they are searching for a morning after pill. The point of taking that product is so that you DON’T have to think about your uterus and can get on with the rest of your life. Bad marketing.

Must be some uteri stuck in jars in various establishments. Maybe their owners will need this product too?

Post menopausal women and prepubescent girls have a uterus too. Neither need contraception.

And for transmen, what would be the effect of taking extra progesterone and oestrogen? How would this interact with cross sex hormones? Have they actually researched it?

Yes, good point. If you are taking a lot of cross sex hormones wouldn't this be a contraindication for taking the morning after pill anyway? Has it been tested for that? It could potentially be dangerous, I wonder if they have information about that in their literature or in the info that comes with the drug, if this is how they are marketing it?

This changing of language to suit a tiny tiny number of people who have an issue with being called a woman is ridiculous. The vast majority of those identifying as male are not in relationships with men (although obviously it could be non-consensual). Same with ‘pregnant men’. I suspect there have been fewer than 20 over the past few years, yet pregnant woman is deemed wrong.

It also sounds ridiculous, almost as if the uterus is some appendage that has special meaning for who a person is. Would you say ‘person with a nose’? No because people have noses. It’s a descriptor. Women have uteruses (sp?). Yes, some are born without or have had it removed but that doesn’t make them not a woman. Just as being born without a nose or losing it to cancer or an accident doesn’t mean you’re not a human.

I bet if we left them to it and found a new umbrella term for the person with a uterus, vulva person, person who menstruates, gestator, and person with a cervix that they would then want access to that term too. It’s not some fucking exclusive club. It’s just reality for half the population.

From their own patient information leaflet

“ This medicine is suitable for any woman of childbearing age, including adolescents.”

Do transmen taking testosterone remain fertile? I wonder what the effects of the MAP on a testosterone-taking female would be. Seems like a rather unsafe cocktail.

OP. just a question - had you ever heard of this brand before?

@DryHeave

Do transmen taking testosterone remain fertile? I wonder what the effects of the MAP on a testosterone-taking female would be. Seems like a rather unsafe cocktail.

It seems that it’s possible going by the Freddy McConnell case where FMcC took testosterone to effect beard growth but then came off it to conceive a child and is now having IVF to conceive a second one.

@Conniethesensible

OP. just a question - had you ever heard of this brand before?

That's a very odd question, but yes.

Do morning after pill manufacturers even market in this way? Like, it was a long time since I went and got the morning after pill but I'm pretty sure I just took whatever the chemist gave me! Do people request a specific brand, surely the only reason you would do that is if you had had a bad experience with a previous one?

Why does it matter whether you've heard of the leading morning after pill brand or not?

Good point Duckwit, maybe this is for a US audience. I know access to contraceptives is different there, but thats a whole other can of worms.

@Duckwit

Do morning after pill manufacturers even market in this way? Like, it was a long time since I went and got the morning after pill but I'm pretty sure I just took whatever the chemist gave me! Do people request a specific brand, surely the only reason you would do that is if you had had a bad experience with a previous one?

There are two brands in the UK: Levonelle and EllaOne. You might specifically request EllaOne, because its effectiveness window is longer. It might also have a higher effectiveness rate, but don't quote me on that because it's a long time since I've checked. I just remember that it's five days, as opposed to Levonelle's three days. (Levonelle's effectiveness declines over those three days, and really has to be taken sooner rather than later, like within the first 12 hours, im(risk-adverse)o.)

I'm not sure of the wording but transmen who aren't taking hormones can get pregnant just as easily as women. I don't see the harm in addressing that but I agree the language is clumsy at best.

@DrDavidBanner

Good point Duckwit, maybe this is for a US audience. I know access to contraceptives is different there, but thats a whole other can of worms.

EllaOne is the UK brand name. It seems to be sold as Ella in the US. (I had to google that, in case anyone wants to know. )

There's something a lot of people enjoy about telling women that things aren't 'just' for them.

You can buy frozen pigs uterus in my local Chinese supermarket. Anyone who buys one can be a person with a uterus.