Planned Parenthood backs Britney and says forced IUD is ‘reproductive coercion’

A charity that provides sexual health care and advice has called allegations that Britney Spears was forced to get a contraceptive IUD “reproductive coercion”

Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson released a statement calling Spears’ testimony “incredibly distressing.”

“We stand in solidarity with Britney and all women who face reproductive coercion,” McGill Johnson wrote. “Your reproductive health is your own — and no one should make decisions about it for you. Every person should have the ability to make their own decisions about their bodies and exercise bodily autonomy.”

Spears appeared in court yesterday to give evidence against her conservatorship, in which her estate and financial assets have been under the control of her father and her lawyer. The conservatorship has been in place for 13 years as it was believed Spears was incapable of making her own decisions due to mental health concerns.

But Spears said the conservatorship had stopped her from living her own life, and said her father would not let her marry her boyfriend or have more children.

“I wanted to take the [IUD] out so I could start trying to have another baby,” Spears said in the hearing. “But this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children — any more children.”

Reacting to her testimony, the Women’s March also tweeted their support for the singer. They said: “Everyone deserves to be able to make their own choices: for their bodies, for their health, for their lives. We support you, Britney, and all women escaping abusive and controlling situations.”

Adding to her evidence, Spears said she had lied to the public about how happy she has been over the last few years.

“I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatised,” she said. “I’m not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m so angry it’s insane. And I’m depressed. I cry every day.

“I feel ganged up on and I feel bullied and I feel left out and alone,” she told the court. “I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does, by having a child, a family, any of those things.”

Spears said she felt “forced” to tour by her management. She said she spoke out against going straight onto a Las Vegas residency, and her therapist was falsely told she was not co-operating or taking her medication.

She alleged she was then put on the drug lithium - a common medicine for bipolar disorder - against her wishes and it had made her feel drunk and unable to converse.

Spears said it was her belief that the conservatorship was doing her “way more harm than good”.

A long legal process is likely before any decision is made on terminating the conservatorship.