Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren’t known for being vocal about sex.
But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.
She wrote a Cliff’s Notes version of her thread on her blog:
If you want to stop abortion, you need to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And men are 100% responsible for unwanted pregnancies. No for real, they are. Perhaps you are thinking: IT TAKES TWO! And yes, it does take two for _intentional_ pregnancies.
But ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don’t believe me? Let me walk you through it. Let’s start with this: women can only get pregnant about 2 days each month. And that’s for a limited number of years.
Here’s the whole thread. It’s long, but totally worth the read.
u201cThat makes 24 days a year a women might get pregnant. But men can _cause_ pregnancy 365 days a year. In fact, if youu2019re a man who ejaculates multiple times a day, you could cause multiple pregnancies daily. In theory a man could cause 1000+ unwanted pregnancies in just one year.u201d— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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But what about birth control? If a woman doesnu2019t want to risk an unwanted pregnancy, why wouldnu2019t she just use birth control? If a women can manage to figure out how to get an abortion, surely she can get birth control, right? Great questions.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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u2026 because of the side effects. And the list of side effects was about 1/3 as long as the known side effects for women’s oral contraception.https://ow.ly/Hqdx30lOrKJ— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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But good news, Men: Even with the horrible side effects, women are still very willing to use birth control. Unfortunately itu2019s harder to get than it should be. Birth control options for women require a doctoru2019s appointment and a prescription. Itu2019s not free, and often not cheap.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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If weu2019re talking about the pill, it requires consistent daily use and doesnu2019t leave much room for mistakes, forgetfulness, or unexpected disruptions to daily schedules. And again, the side effects can be brutal. Iu2019M STILL GRATEFUL FOR IT PLEASE DONu2019T TAKE IT AWAY.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Men can keep them stocked up just in case, so theyu2019re always prepared. Amazing! They are so much easier than birth control options for women. As a bonus, in general, women love when men use condoms. They keep us from getting STDs, they donu2019t lessen our pleasure during sexu2026— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Oh. I remember. Men _donu2019t_ love condoms. In fact, men frequently pressure women to have sex without a condom. And itu2019s not unheard of for men to remove the condom during sex, without the womenu2019s permission or knowledge. (Pro-tip: That’s assault.)https://ow.ly/UHgP30lOse3— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Sou2026 there are men willing to risk getting a woman pregnant u2014 which means literally risking her life, her health, her social status, her relationships, and her career, so that they can experience a few minutes of _slightly_ more pleasure? Is that for real? Yes. Yes it is.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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So itu2019s not like sex with a condom is _not_ pleasurable, itu2019s just not _as_ pleasurable. An 8 instead of a 10. Let me emphasize that again: Men regularly choose to put women at massive risk by having non-condom sex, in order to experience a few minutes of slightly more pleasure.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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So surely, we can expect men who arenu2019t wearing a condom to at least pull out every time they have sex, right? nnNope. nnAnd why not?— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Itu2019s mind-boggling and disturbing when you realize thatu2019s the choice men are making. And honestly, Iu2019m not as mad as I should be about this, because weu2019ve trained men from birth that their pleasure is of utmost importance in the world. (And to dis-associate sex and pregnancy.)— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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So surely, we can expect men who arenu2019t wearing a condom to at least pull out every time they have sex, right? nnNope. nnAnd why not?— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Itu2019s mind-boggling and disturbing when you realize thatu2019s the choice men are making. And honestly, Iu2019m not as mad as I should be about this, because weu2019ve trained men from birth that their pleasure is of utmost importance in the world. (And to dis-associate sex and pregnancy.)— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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But did you further know that men CAN get a woman pregnant without HER feeling any pleasure at all? In fact, itu2019s totally possible for a man to impregnate a woman even while causing her excruciating pain, trauma or horror.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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No matter how many orgasms she has, they wonu2019t make her pregnant. Pregnancies can only happen when men have an orgasm. Unwanted pregnancies can only happen when men orgasm irresponsibly.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Letu2019s talk more about responsibility. Men often donu2019t know, and donu2019t ask, and donu2019t think to ask, if theyu2019ve caused a pregnancy. They may never think of it, or associate sex with making babies at all. Why? Because there are 0 consequences for men who cause unwanted pregnancies.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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If the woman decides to have an abortion, the man may never know he caused an unwanted pregnancy with his irresponsible ejaculation.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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Blair’s controversial tweet storm have been liked hundreds of thousands of time, with the original tweet earning nearly 200,000 likes since it was posted on Thursday, September, 13.
The reactions have earned her both praise and scorn.
Most of the scorn was from men.
Men AND women both need to take responsibility for their own actions. I’ve said that many times. To say otherwise just isn’t being realistic.— CitizenPatriot (@CitizenPatriot)
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But Blair wouldn’t budge.
You are incorrect. A woman having an orgasm while with a man risks nothing and hurts no one. A man having an orgasm while with a woman risks her life. A dick without a condim is a dangerous thing and has killed more people in human history than any war or weapon.— Gabrielle Blair (@Gabrielle Blair)
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For other men, the tweet thread was a real eye-opener.
I just want you to know from a guy that your entire line of argument on this thread is 100% accurate. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there. Every adult in this country SHOULD read this.— Jarrod Broussard (@Jarrod Broussard)
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Women everywhere applauded Blair’s bold thread.
Thank God for this. I have had so many arguments with men over the years about their part of responsibility for pregnancy. The phrase “she got pregnant” sends me to the moon! Blessings to you Gabrielle!— What else is possible? (@What else is possible?)
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Pulitzer, Nobel, everything else. You deserve the whole lot!— Sally ud83dude97ud83cudfceufe0fud83cudfc1ud83dudc3eud83dudc15ud83cudfd4ufe0f (@Sally ud83dude97ud83cudfceufe0fud83cudfc1ud83dudc3eud83dudc15ud83cudfd4ufe0f)
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This article originally appeared on 02.22.19