I just got my IUD removed, and I was drenched with sweat. I have gone through this pain three times now, and I am honestly asking: why are we still expected to suffer through this with little to nothing for pain?

It’s 2026. Patients should not have to endure unnecessary pain during gynecological procedures simply because pain relief has been treated as an afterthought. Whether an IUD is being inserted or removed for contraception, to manage a medical condition, or to address another reproductive health need, patients deserve to be heard, believed, and offered appropriate pain management options. Pain relief should be a standard part of informed consent and patient-centered care—not a privilege patients have to fight for.

This is not just about me having one awful appointment. This is about how reproductive health care keeps asking women and patients with uteruses to endure pain as if it is normal, acceptable, or somehow part of the price of having a choice. It should not take tears, shaking, sweat, and fear for someone to access birth control or make decisions about their own body. Bodily autonomy means more than having options on paper. It means being able to get care without being forced to suffer through it.

I am calling on national medical associations, hospital systems, and reproductive health clinics to require real pain management options for IUD removals and insertions, including numbing, stronger pain control when appropriate, and sedation when needed. Patients deserve honest counseling before the procedure, the ability to choose pain relief, and to have their pain taken seriously instead of brushed off. If this care is routine, then pain relief should be routine too.

If you are tired of watching people be dismissed, minimized, and hurt during reproductive health procedures, please sign this petition. We should not have to beg for humane care. We should not have to suffer just to protect our futures and make choices about our own bodies.