Preemption is not about the Essure women - it affects all

The words of Erin Brockovich—“Preemption is not about the Essure women – it affects all consumers. If someone had a medical device installed, there’s no recourse for victims, and the company is protected. If there’s a problem, the company gets a pass because they have preemption. It dawned on me the consumer didn’t know. The women didn’t know that this existed.”—are not merely a protest; they are a cry of warning from a voice forged in the fires of injustice. In this statement, Brockovich unveils a truth that pierces the illusions of modern progress: that even in an age of science and law, power can still shield the guilty, and ignorance can still enslave the innocent. Her words echo with ancient resonance, calling to those who believe that truth and fairness are self-sustaining. She reminds us that they are not—they must be fought for, named, and defended.

To understand the weight of this quote, one must first grasp the meaning of preemption, a legal doctrine that protects manufacturers of certain medical devices from lawsuits, even when those devices harm or destroy lives. It is a shield crafted not of compassion but of bureaucracy—a mechanism by which corporations evade accountability under the cloak of federal approval. In this, Brockovich saw the repetition of an old and terrible pattern: that when institutions become too powerful, they cease to serve the people and begin to serve themselves. She speaks for the Essure women, victims of a birth control implant that caused immense suffering—pain, bleeding, infertility, even death—and yet, they were denied the right to seek justice. Their voices were silenced not by fate, but by law itself.

The origin of Brockovich’s revelation lies in her enduring crusade for justice, the same spirit that once led her to uncover the poisoning of Hinkley, California, by Pacific Gas & Electric. Having stood before the giants of industry before, she recognized the same shadow rising again: a system that places corporate protection above human protection, profit above accountability. What struck her most deeply was not only the injustice itself, but the ignorance of the people—the fact that those most affected had no idea that such a legal shield existed. For what is oppression if not built upon the silence of those who do not yet know they are oppressed? In that moment, her fight expanded—from one case, one community, one cause—to a universal battle for transparency and awareness.

Her words call forth a truth that is as old as civilization itself: that knowledge is the first weapon of freedom, and ignorance the favored tool of tyranny. In the ancient world, empires rose and fell not merely through war, but through deceit—by hiding truth from the people. The philosopher Plato warned of this in his Allegory of the Cave: that many live chained in the dark, mistaking shadows for reality. Brockovich’s fight is a modern retelling of that same parable. The shadows are now cast by corporations and legal frameworks, and the prisoners are everyday citizens—patients, mothers, workers—who trust systems that quietly betray them. To bring truth to light, as she has done, is an act of liberation.

There is also a sacred moral fire within her statement. It challenges not only the systems of power but the complacency of society itself. When she says, “It dawned on me the consumer didn’t know,” she speaks with both sorrow and urgency. The awakening she describes is not hers alone; it is the awakening that must occur in every heart that still believes justice is guaranteed. She reminds us that vigilance is the price of safety, that blind trust in authority is a dangerous faith. Her revelation demands that we become active participants in our own protection—that we question, read, demand, and speak. For silence, in a world like ours, is complicity.

History is filled with examples of those who suffered because they trusted systems built to fail them. Consider the tragedy of the thalidomide mothers in the mid-20th century, whose children were born with severe deformities because of a drug promoted as safe. They too were victims of hidden truths, of corporations that claimed oversight where there was none. Yet from their pain came reform—laws that demanded transparency and ethics in medicine. Brockovich’s fight is the continuation of that same sacred lineage. The battlefield has changed, but the struggle remains: the eternal war between the powerful few and the unaware many.

From Erin Brockovich’s words, we are taught that justice begins not in the courts, but in consciousness. The first act of resistance is awareness; the second is unity. If consumers remain uninformed, they remain defenseless. But when truth is shared, when voices rise together, the illusion of corporate invincibility begins to crumble. Her quote is not only a warning—it is a call to arms for the age of information. In her defiance, she reminds us that truth is not given; it must be demanded, and once found, it must be spoken, again and again, until even the deaf ears of power are forced to listen.

So let her words be passed down like an ancient teaching: never assume that justice is automatic, nor that compassion dwells in institutions. Be watchful, be informed, and never surrender your right to question. For every law written to protect profit, there must rise a people who speak for principle. The Essure women were not just victims of a device; they were victims of silence. Let their story awaken in us the same fire that burns in Brockovich’s voice—the fire that says: know the truth, speak the truth, and guard it with your life. For when truth is protected, humanity itself is healed.