How To Safely Track Your Period Now That Roe v. Wade Is Overturned

Your personal data from period tracking apps could possibly be used against you in states where abortion is banned.
Privately keep track of your cycle with this soft-cover period notebook, these customizable print-outs and a hard-cover wellness journal that allows you to set personal health goals.
Amazon, Etsy, Papier
Privately keep track of your cycle with this soft-cover period notebook, these customizable print-outs and a hard-cover wellness journal that allows you to set personal health goals.

The Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, a near 50-year precedence protecting the right to abortion, was announced on Friday. Although a leaked draft opinion in May rendered this decision an expected one, it was less expected when everyone began talking about period tracking phone apps.

Period tracking apps, according to a 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation survey, have been used at some point by nearly a third of Americans who identify as women. They can be extremely useful for recording patterns in a menstrual cycle in order to plan for pregnancy, preventing pregnancy and also for detecting it early on.

However, when last week’s decision came, medical providers and people with uteruses all across the country scrambled to understand the nuances of proposed state laws ― and what exactly they could be criminalized for and how. Privacy advocates warned that the sensitive data collected on these apps could potentially provide prosecutors with digital evidence of abortion, if subpoenaed in court.

In fact, according to Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit legal services provider: “Even with reproductive rights protected as a matter of Constitutional law, American police and prosecutors already deploy digital surveillance techniques to track and prosecute pregnant people.”

If you want to stick with an app, you’re possibly safer having one that doesn’t use a server or third party tracking (read our full story here). But if you want to forgo technology altogether, you can always turn to good old-fashioned pen and paper.

Protect your reproductive privacy with these period-tracking notebooks, practical cycle logs and educational wellness journals that can help your feel gain a better understanding with your body.

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1
A soft-cover journal with 48 months’ worth of tracking
This comprehensive journal contains 48 undated calendar months to clearly track the days of your period along with an annual graph chart to observe cycle patterns in from a yearly perspective. There are also diary pages following each month to record everything from energy levels, flow intensity and mood.
2
A menstrual cycle guide that’s both practical and educational
Intended to provide users with a comprehensive three-month look at their menstrual cycle while also imparting some educational insight, this hard-cover journal contains practical period-tracking pages, space to monitor your wellbeing as well as areas to record observations and reflections.
3
A hormone-monitoring planner that helps you understand your body
This 90-day journal places an emphasis on cycle-based hormone changes in order to help you gain bodily intuition for the future. An educational health primer at the beginning of the planner explains the four different phases in a menstrual cycle and daily pages provide space to record everything from overall mood to motivation levels and cravings, as well as weekly reflections for keeping track of personal habits, self-care and more.
4
A customizable hard-cover wellness journal
Monitor your menstrual cycle through a wellness-based lens using this hard-cover daily journal filled with sections that allow you to set goals, record meals and sleep patterns, make daily intentions and reflect on your overall wellbeing. It contains 12 weeks worth of tracking, has a fabric bookmark so you never lose your place and can be customized in eight different color schemes.
5
Customizable and printable planning pages for your period
You can fill an existing planner or binder with these printable planning pages that clearly outline your period dates and symptoms from an at-a-week glance, along with an annual chart that helps you notice patterns from a yearly perspective. You can choose from three different formats, eight colors and two page sizes. Also, once you pay for the pages, you can download and print the document an unlimited amount of times.
6
A menstrual cycle calendar specifically for teens
Convenient and well organized, this paperback journal designed just for teens, provides a basic outline for menstruation-beginners to record and understand patterns that occur within a cycle. It contains both a monthly and weekly overview of their period as well as plenty of room for notes.
7
A handmade tracker that depicts where your cycle lines up with the phases of the moon
This unique and beautifully illustrated tracker contains an easy-to-use log that allows you to track your period by simply circling dates on a chart. What makes this option particularly special is that you can simultaneously see how your cycle syncs up to the 29-day cycle of the moon and learn, from a mythological standpoint, the significance of the various mood phases.
8
A desktop tracking pad with tear-away sheets
These straightforward period tracking pads for your desk or drawer contain 25 pages of tear-away sheets and are printed by a small business in Illinois. The pad measures 5.5 by 8.5 inches and contains sections to track pain levels and flow intensities.

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