ALLY'S LAW PROVIDES BATHROOMS FOR THOSE WITH IBD

Ally Bain desperately needed a bathroom while shopping in Chicago—and they wouldn't let her use one in the store. This 14-year-old with Crohn's disease used her experience to advocate for the right to use a restroom in a public place. The result: someone with IBD or other intestinal problems or a woman whose pregnant now has the right to use a public toilet—and if a business doesn't have one, the managers have to let you use the employee restroom. Businesses in states that don't have the law often follow the same policy now. 

But it still can be embarrassing to announce that you need to use the restroom or to go to the front of the line when it's urgent. So now there's what's known as a "bathroom card" you can hand an employee or those who are in front of you in line at a restaurant or event. 

You can purchase a bathroom card from eBay, or get one free from UCB, the makers or Cimzia or from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation or you can photograph the one here

and keep it on your phone. You can also use a letter from your doctor. But be aware that if someone else uses the card, that's a misdemeanor—so you shouldn't share it with your family or friends.