A teacher in South Carolina has declared she will not have children for as long as Donald Trump is president.
Kate Medlin, 31, posted a TikTok last week after it appeared Trump would win the election saying she and her fiancé decided they would not be having kids in the next four years, ‘especially in the state we are now.’
However, the preschool teacher added that when Trump leaves office, she’ll be nearly 36 years old, making her a high-risk geriatric pregnancy, which means children are ‘probably never going to happen for me.’
Ms Medlin said in her video: ‘Last night, the conversation my fiancé and I had before we went to bed was if this happens, we won’t be having kids. At least not in the next four years. We definitely can’t have them in the state we live in now.’
The teacher never mentioned abortion and said in later posts she wasn’t specifically talking about the right to choose but was commenting on the wider issue of women’s healthcare.
However, in her original video she said she and husband may consider moving to Maine, Vermont or another ‘protected’ state.
‘But even then, who is to say what’s going to happen,’ she added.
Currently in South Carolina, there is a ban on abortion after six weeks.
Preschool teacher Kate Medlin said she and her partner will not be having children under a Donald Trump presidency
There are exceptions in instances of rape, incest, medical emergencies and fatal fetal anomalies. In these cases, abortion is allowed up to 12 weeks.
In Maine, abortion is protected under state law up until viability – approximately 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy – and in Vermont there is no limit.
Trump has said he wouldn’t impose a federal abortion ban – leaving decisions to the states – but has repeatedly bragged about and taken responsibility for the overturning of Roe vs Wade, which provided federal protections for abortion.
Later in her TikTok, Ms Medlin also spoke about LGBTQ+ rights and gun violence in schools.
She said: ‘Waking up to texts between myself and my female friends and my LGBTQ+ friends and not knowing what the world’s going to look like for them either.
‘And then coming to school this morning and realizing someone might want to put a gun in my hand to protect [students]… I teach two- and three-year-olds and that is the world they’re growing up into.
‘So I hope you voted and I hope you know what you did when you voted.’
The video has been viewed more than 337,000 time and women flocked to the comments section to express similar feelings.
Former President Donald Trump was reelected to the White House last week to be the 47th president of the United States
TikTok user Kris said: ‘I’m having exactly the same thoughts. I’m devastated.’
Another wrote: ‘I just broke down and cried in my husband’s arms this morning telling him we won’t be having kids.’
Samantha said: ‘We had the same conversation. We’d been trying for nearly 2 years and had just started getting hopeful that IVF was an option. We don’t feel safe trying in Florida.’
In another video posted the next day, Ms Medlin added she is increasingly worried about women and teenage girls dying from lack of access to safe healthcare and is scared of increasing gun violence.
She said: ‘It’s just the reality of do I want to bring a child into this world and right now I feel very unsure of what it’s going to look like.’
The Charleston resident also fears climate change action is going to decrease or progress made will be reversed, leaving behind an unsafe planet for future generations.
She said: ‘I’m going to continue to hope… that climate change isn’t going to be pushed back even further than it has been so the children I might possibly have have a safe place to live.’
Ms Medlin continued: ‘My friends in the LGBTQ+ community, I don’t know what’s going to happen to their rights. My trans friends, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them.
‘And that’s terrifying to me.
‘All I’m here for is a kinder, safer country for our next generation and that’s what scares me. I don’t see that happening.’
