As the president-elect’s affiliation with conservative playbook Project 2025 threatened to restrict access, Americans stockpiled up on birth control and pregnancy management choices in the days after Donald Trump won the 2024 election.Google searches for birth control and Plan B increased the day following the election, beginning as early as November 2, according to ABC News.Sales of Winx Health’s morning-after pill increased by 966% in the 72 hours following the election, according to the online sexual health merchant.
I believe that the fact that individuals aren’t purchasing single dosages of this medicine is one of the most intriguing aspects of this situation. The value pack is being purchased by women. Cynthia Plotchtold, the creator of Winx, told West Palm Beach, Florida’s WPTV in November that they are purchasing in quantity.
In a TikTok video posted on December 19, Sara Neill, a physician-researcher in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, expressed concerns about a patient who had replaced her IUD years before it was medically necessary.
She was actually coming in as a preventative measure to see if she could have an IUD exchange before Donald Trump became president again because she was afraid that he would not be able to get it done when it was truly needed. I can’t really give her a definitive response, so it’s difficult. The unfortunate part is that events have occurred that we previously believed would never occur.
Concern over the future of goods like birth control pills intensifies as Inauguration Day draws near. Given the added obstacles to accessing abortion since Roe v. Wade was reversed, the fact that so many Americans rely on contraception to meet their hormonal health needs and avoid unintended births has become a greater worry.90% of women between the ages of 18 and 64 have used contraception at some point in their life, and 76% have used multiple methods, according to KFF.
Dr. Brittany Cline, an OB-GYN at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, discussed the increased demand for long-term choices and birth control advice in her office in November.
I used all of the clinic’s intrauterine devices on Monday, and I believe that as people attempt to regain some control over their bodies, this trend will continue for months or even years to come, Cline told ABC News.
Is birth control threatened under a second Trump term?
Although the conservative think tank the Heritage Fund’s nearly 900-page presidential playbook, Project 2025, does not advocate for a complete prohibition on contraception, it does suggest restricting access to it. The federal contraceptive coverage guarantee of the Affordable Care Act mandates that the majority of private insurance plans cover contraception without imposing copays or deductibles.The policy reduced costs for many women with private insurance after it went into force in 2012. Sixty-seven percent of women who used birth control pills paid no out-of-pocket fees, up from just 15% who did not previously, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health research group.In 2013 alone, this saved Americans $1.4 billion on birth control pills, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
Since cost is a significant barrier to care access, free or inexpensive coverage is essential. According to a 2022 KFF analysis, one in five uninsured women of reproductive age stopped using contraceptives because they couldn’t afford it, and 3% of women with private insurance mentioned cost as a reason for stopping use. Rollbacks the president-elect might make in his second term could be hinted at by Trump’s first term. An estimated 126,000 women lost birth control coverage from their employment as a result of the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision to support his administration’s decision to allow companies to opt out of the free contraception guarantee if they had a moral or religious objection.
Trump was vague about his stance on contraception during the campaign. He said in May that he had a policy coming shortly, but he did not specifically address whether he opposed a person’s right to contraception.
“The states have a lot to do with things, and some states will have different policies than others,” he told Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV.
Trump has not yet unveiled a policy, but following the interview, he clarified on social media that he did not want to outlaw birth control. However, his team later clarified that he was talking about abortion drugs, not birth control.
I have never advocated restricting access to birth control or other forms of contraception, and I will never do so. This is a contrived lie by a Democrat. Neither the Republican Party nor I will support a ban on birth control.On May 21, Trump made a post.
Because it is used to prevent conception as well as to treat migraines, endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome, and other conditions, contraception is an essential component of total healthcare access.
Accessing care is now simpler than ever because to telemedicine and policy improvements brought about by the rise in demand for contraceptives.
Despite an increasing number of options, approximately 77% of women prefer to obtain their birth control from a doctor’s office, according to KFF. Online pharmacies like as Wispand have made contraception accessible without a doctor’s consultation in recent years.
Opill, the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill, was approved by the FDA in July 2023 and became available on store shelves in late March 2024. Nowadays, stores like Target and Costco sell birth control tablets without a prescription. Although the rule has not been approved, the Biden Administration proposed in October to further broaden the Affordable Care Act to include an over-the-counter birth control option and emergency contraception.
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