During a time of increased tension surrounding women and female reproductive rights, anything that seems like an affront to a woman’s agency over her body is going to be under more scrutiny than ever.
This includes any indication that a woman might be pregnant in the first place, including purchasing and using a pregnancy test.
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A woman recently posted a TikTok showing her state requiring identification before buying a pregnancy test.
The TikTok, uploaded by user @decrepit_plant , who wishes to only go by Gross, involves her being unsure as to why Amazon was asking for her driver’s license to by a pregnancy test.
Gross, 30, has never encountered this before.
“Why do they need it, where is [the information] going, and what’s going on?” she asks in the TikTok, which was uploaded earlier this month and has since gained nearly 90 thousand views.
Many people in the comments pointed out how bad and invasive this is.
“That’s especially bad for teenagers and even tweens,” one commenter pointed out. After all, even if they needed a pregnancy test, they wouldn’t have the ID to get one.
Others agreed that it’s probably for gathering data.
Another commenter said, “Given current trends, they are collecting data to sell it.” Whether it’s to sell data or for some other reason, you have to admit it’s pretty freaky.
Upon further investigation, it looks like only one brand was affected.
In a comment, Gross further explained that she was having this issue with First Response pregnancy tests. She also mentioned that she lives in California. The Daily Dot confirmed that they didn’t find this issue in New York or Utah.
In fact, it shouldn’t be an issue in California, either.
California law states that when it comes to contraception, pregnancy tests, and other pregnancy-related resources, “You do not need permission from anyone, including your parents or guardians and your partner.” So, Amazon shouldn’t be requiring IDs for these things.
Gross posted a follow-up TikTok explaining Amazon’s rationale for this request.
She shows her screen after adding the test to her cart, and under the “Why am I seeing this?” link, it states that it’s because the state requires ID.
Which… we already know isn’t the case.
However, not long after the TikToks were posted, Amazon reached out to the Daily Dot and said that the ID requirement was an error: “We apologize for the error on this listing, the age request has been removed.”
That’s good at least, but what could this mean for the future of pregnancy test accessibility?
With the recent Supreme Court draft leak indicating their intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, thus restricting abortion rights in many states, people see pregnancy test restrictions, even in error, as troubling signs.
Gross says that this is, “part of a worrying trend of tracking women’s personal data.”
In an email statement sent to the Daily Dot, Gross writes, “Just buying a pregnancy test could very soon be used as evidence against you in some states very soon.”
