New York City’s City Council announced a new plan to implement edible birth control pellets for rats across the city in early October. The contraception is dubbed ContraPest and aims to curb the growing rat population. Newsweek estimates that close to three million rats currently reside in New York City, and they can reproduce at rapid rates.
Birth control pellets in place of poison will not be immediately effective but will be in the long term. It will also prevent the spreading of poison to other animals or even humans. Boston had a trial run with this idea, which was received with mixed feelings, according to WHDH Boston.
Personally, while I see the appeal of giving rats birth control instead of poison, the timing is a bit ridiculous.
However, it’s important to note that these movements directly follow years of controversy surrounding bodily autonomy rights and healthcare for people with female reproductive organs. In June 2022, “Roe v. Wade,” a monumental case allowing and protecting abortion rights, was overturned by a Republican-majority Supreme Court.
Since then, the Trump administration has taken every measure to prevent people with female reproductive organs from having access to reproductive healthcare. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, only 13 states have protections for abortions currently. The other 37 states have unprotected, hostile or illegal abortion laws.
Personally, while I see the appeal of giving rats birth control instead of poison, the timing is a bit ridiculous. At this point, there are a limited number of states where people with female reproductive organs can go for reproductive care: the number has gone drastically down from 2,908 total abortion providers in the United States in 1982 to 1,603 in 2020, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.
It’s also important to note that these are abortion providers, meaning they consist of physician’s offices, hospitals, clinics solely for abortions and other clinics that may encompass multiple of these forms of care. This lack of accessibility has set the United States back decades regarding rights to bodily autonomy. The healthcare system, while imperfect, has made significant progress and advancements regarding reproductive care in recent decades, and willingly depriving those with female reproductive organs is incredibly disrespectful and dangerous.
Not only does this blatantly prove that the Republican party in general doesn’t respect or view those with female reproductive organs as humans, but it also places countless people in life-threatening danger. News sites are near-constantly reporting deaths of people with female reproductive organs due to lack of reproductive care.
This is infuriating because the current healthcare system has the means to help these people, but is afraid to do so for fear of legal repercussions. In Texas, for example, a doctor can face up to a life sentence in prison for performing an abortion on a patient — even if it’s a matter of life or death for the patient. Texas has also seen a 56% increase in pregnancy-related deaths since it banned abortions in 2021.
To further this point, the National Library of Medicine reported, “States with abortion bans or restrictions experience adverse outcomes including limited maternity care providers, maternity care deserts, higher rates of maternal mortality and infant death, especially among people of color, elevated death rates for birthing individuals of reproductive age, and greater racial disparities in healthcare.”
In other words, it’s incredibly poor timing for cities to be giving free birth control to rodents while humans in the U.S. often lack access to birth control, and even if they do, they’re a significant expense — up to $50 per month, according to Planned Parenthood. The recent restrictions on reproductive healthcare not only ban abortions but make things like birth control less readily available as well. There is no reason that rats should have more reproductive care and access than people with female reproductive organs. This decision means that the reproductive health of people with female reproductive organs is worth less than that of an invasive rodent.
jamabil3@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @Brendanchristopher, X
