Although President-elect Donald Trump has promised not to try to restrict access, sales of birth control and emergency contraception morning-after pills like Plan B and Restart have soared since his election.
Women worried that they won’t be able to terminate an unintended pregnancy in the upcoming years have been asking more questions about long-acting birth control options like IUDs (intrauterine devices) at clinics.
Patients are afraid, said Dr. Dawn Bingham, an OB-GYN in South Carolina, one of four states that forbid abortions after six weeks.
Trump has categorically denied that his administration will deny women access to contraceptives, including birth control tablets.
Following his earlier remarks, some women are dubious or wish to minimize risk.
Trump indicated earlier this year that he was amenable to state-level limitations. Additionally, he fulfilled a 2016 campaign pledge that his Supreme Court selections will overturn Roe v. Wade by appointing three of the six justices who authored the ruling that terminated federal safeguards for abortion access.
It’s unclear where he stands on emergency contraception.
He has vowed to block a federal abortion ban. However, there are worries that by outlawing telehealth and interstate shipments of abortion-inducing medications, he would continue to make it challenging to have nonsurgical abortions.
Weekly sales following Election Day were 36 times higher than the week before, according to Winx Health, the company that created Restart.
The company claims that single-dose packs were the most widely used choice in the past. Weekly sales have risen by 9,000%, with 75% of all purchases being four-dose value packs.
Orders for emergency contraception rose 187% in the first three days after Trump’s victory, according to Hey Jane, a company that offers emergency contraception directly to patients. Sales of mifepristone, which was responsible for 63% of all abortions performed in the US last year, rose by 25%.
Hello, Jane Kiki Freedman, the CEO and co-founder, made an effort to reassure women that these drugs would remain available.
“We want to be clear that even though we are deeply disappointed with the election’s outcome, people can still access abortion care with Hey Jane, and we are more committed than ever to providing safe, compassionate, evidence-based reproductive and sexual health care services,” she said in a statement.
After the Supreme Court reversed Roe in 2022, women tried to stockpile abortion-inducing medications, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
There has also been a rise in appointments and searches for long-acting, reversible forms of contraception.
The day following the election, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported a 760% spike in IUD appointments. Progestin implants, which are tiny plastic rods placed in the upper arm to prevent conception for three years, saw a 350% increase in appointments.
Bingham, the OB-GYN, claims that some women are considering tubal ligation sterilization as a result of the current political situation.
According to Planned Parenthood, traffic to their vasectomy website surged 1,200% the day after the election.
Bingham informed me that more patients, younger patients, and some individuals who have never been pregnant are asking for permanent contraception. The patients worry that their options for long-acting, reversible contraception may be limited or eliminated entirely in the coming months.
Confusion regarding the ramifications of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruling that reversed Roe in June 2022, is partly to blame for the craze.
Several cases pertaining to private rights, such as Roe, are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. In a concurring opinion to Dobbs, Justice Clarence Thomas contended that the Supreme Court ought to review those as well, citing decisions defending access to contraception and interracial marriage.
Many states, including Arizona, immediately curtailed access to abortion after the Dobbs ruling. Voters in Arizona last month overturned a 15-week restriction on abortion by approving a state constitutional amendment that safeguards access to abortions based on fetal viability.
Access to contraception, especially day-after tablets intended for use in the event of unprotected sex, has been restricted by some conservative lawmakers nationwide. These medications do not end a pregnancy; rather, they prevent it by blocking ovulation, fertilization, or implantation.
About half of individuals said they were unclear if abortion medicine was still permitted in their state, according to a KFF survey that was done about six months after Dobbs. Among them were 41% of women between the ages of 18 and 49.
Danika Severino Wynn, vice president of care and access at Planned Parenthood, noted that many people place a high priority on having access to sexual and reproductive health care. particularly those who reside in states where access to abortion care is already restricted or prohibited.
Trump has given conflicting messages.
He was asked if he would think about restricting birth contraception by a Pittsburgh TV reporter in May.
Trump stated, “We’re looking at that.” “Some states will have different policies than others,” he added.
Outrage was aroused by the suggestion that he was amenable to limitations, and he promptly withdrew his remarks.
He said on social media, “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER, ADVOCATE FOR RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL.”
The Republican Heritage Foundation’s plan for a second Trump administration, Project 2025, urges the FDA to revoke mifepristone’s approval. Despite distancing himself from Project 2025 during the campaign, Trump has elevated several of its creators to prominent roles.
The lengthy paper also promotes the Comstock Act’s enforcement. The anti-smut law of 1873 made it illegal to export any medication or contraceptive device that could stop or prevent pregnancy. It also made it illegal to share pregnancy-prevention information via mail.
The Comstock Act was in effect for decades before Roe declared it illegal in 1973. It remains in force despite multiple unsuccessful attempts by Congress to repeal it.
The Department of Justice responded to Dobbs by stating that prosecutors would have to prove the sender knew the material was being used illegally in order to enforce Comstock. The majority of medications and supplies used in abortions, including mifepristone, have other authorized uses.
A new view might be released by the Trump Justice Department.
Trump declared in August that he will not pursue enforcement of Comstock.
He might be under pressure from his own government. Legislators, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, signed a letter last year pushing the DOJ to apply the legislation to punish the careless mail distribution of abortion medicines.
In their letter, they said, “We expect that you put the law and your duty to enforce it above the abortion industry’s dangerous and deadly political agenda.”
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