Abortion – Population Matters-USA

FemTech is a new word for me. It isn’t the name of a female robot, but rather describes technology for the needs of women’s reproductive health.

There are many types of FemTech. One of the earliest and most common form is various apps women use to keep track of menstrual periods. That information can be useful to help a woman know when she is most fertile and trying to conceive—or when she is least likely to conceive, if her goal is to avoid pregnancy. Unfortunately, that type of app is a good illustration of how technology can lead people astray. There are several potential problems with these simple apps.

Let’s look at the case of a woman who is trying to conceive, but her husband has a low sperm count. They have read that it is best if he saves up those precious sperm until she is ready to ovulate. She looks at her phone one morning and realizes that she is at her most fertile. Her husband is drinking his morning coffee, reading the newspaper and on his way to work. She runs up to him and says:

“Honey, today’s the day! Let’s do it!”

Under those circumstances, sex can become a chore instead of being fun. Furthermore, recently it has been found that it is more productive for a couple to have intercourse more frequently and not just when the wife is more fertile.

There are other problems for couples who are trying to avoid pregnancy. One is that the pregnancy rate is much higher than with most modern contraceptive methods. Another is problem is more pernicious: poor security. Some of the apps do not take adequate measures to keep women’s data secure. Thus, if a woman who lives in a state where abortion is illegal misses a period and might be pregnant, law enforcement might find out. Then, if she tries to go to another state to abort the pregnancy—or perhaps to just visit a friend—she can be tracked. This may seem too Orwellian to occur in the USA, but already laws have been proposed to prevent crossing a state border in order to obtain abortion care.

Natural Cycles is the only app that earned FDA approval for contraceptive purposes. It uses a combination of period information and the rise of a person’s temperature when ovulation occurs, so it is more accurate than period-tracking apps. It claims to be 93% effective with typical use—which means that as many as 7 out of 100 women will conceive in a year of using this app for birth control. This is pretty good compared to other natural family planning methods, which have a failure rate up to 25%.

FemTech gets more sophisticated than just a calendar and thermometer. High tech fertility tracking with finger rings that measure temperature and home tests for progesterone which can help tell when ovulation has occurred. There are even expensive kits that measure 4 different hormones for the same purpose. Another high tech device uses vaginal probe that notifies the user when her cervical mucus is ready to assist sperm on their journey.

For an unintended pregnancy, FemTcch can help women lower barriers to self-managed abortions. A chatbot named “Ally” uses artificial intelligence to do this. Ally provides information for safe abortions using pills. It is available in several languages and has been used by people in over 170 countries.

This is just a sample of FemTech; I’m sure that much more will be developed in the future. Unfortunately, new ways of invading our privacy will also proliferate.

©?Richard Grossman MD 2026

PS: After posting this essay I realized that the FDA has approved another app for contraception, “Clue”.

Image used courtesy of La Revuelta Colectiva Feminista

As a kid, and then as a university student, Aye Maldonado used to see women protesting almost every day. As time went on, more and more of the women were wearing green bandanas as signs of their unity.

Maldonado grew up in Córdoba, Argentina, that country’s second largest city. It was also the site of rebellion against patriarchy that achieved miracles. I had heard that Maldonado had participated in the Green Wave and was able to chat with her last month at a Durango restaurant.

The Green Wave started about 2015 as a movement against femicide—the murder of women and girls. This was a daily occurrence, according to Maldonado—and even more frequently than murder, females were “disappeared”. What set off this massive reaction to toxic machismo was the death of a pregnant 14 year old. That young teen was killed by her boyfriend; he then buried her corpse.

Tens of thousands of women, young and old, were spurred to protest gender-based violence. In 2019, the newly elected President Alberto Fernández ordered the creation of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity in response to the demands of women. Laws were passed to support women and girls; unfortunately, these laws aren’t always enforced, from what I have read.

The Green Wave movement became a powerful sorority. The demonstrators were not in positions of power, in most cases. However, some of the women had relatives, husbands or friends in the government and were able to convince them of the importance of their cause.

Unfortunately, Argentina is not the only place in Latin America with high rates of femicide. Women in other countries started wearing green bandanas causing the Green Wave to spread across Argentina to Mexico, Brazil and Peru, among other countries.

The USA is not immune from femicide. I was shocked to learn that the most common cause of death during pregnancy is homicide.

Maldonado told me that there were a few physicians whom women could trust when they needed an abortion. Information about these few doctors was passed around by word of mouth. She told me that her role with the Green Wave was protection; she helped keep people safe by keeping them informed.

Patriarchy was strong; the Roman Catholic Church and many men in government fought against legalizing abortion. Furthermore, the laws against abortion were very strict. If a person were caught performing, or having, an abortion, it meant a long time in jail—especially if they didn’t have connections or were poor. To make the situation even worse, relinquishing a baby for adoption was very difficult. This meant that a woman with an unintended pregnancy didn’t have that option.

Realizing their power, the sorority of women in the Green Wave turned their attention in Argentina from stopping abuse and femicide to the right to have safe, legal abortion care. Similar to most countries where abortion was illegal, women with unintended pregnancies often attempted to cause an abortion themselves. Sometimes they took toxic herbs or used mechanical means that introduced bacteria into their uterus. Where abortion is not legal, hemorrhage or septic abortions are common and may end with the woman’s death.

Maldonado told me that in 2020 hundreds of women waited outside the National Congress while senators debated the issue of legalizing abortion. I can imagine the relief and the cheer that greeted the announcement that the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill had passed. Now women can have safe, legal abortions in Argentina. The Green Wave has helped spread liberalization of laws to other Latin countries, including Mexico and Columbia.