If reelected, Donald Trump has stated that he will not prohibit the use of birth control. He could, however, make it far more difficult to obtain.
From expanding the number of companies that could choose not to cover birth control in their employees’ health insurance to severely limiting the Title X family planning program, which caused many clinics to close their doors, Trump’s policies have made it harder for many people, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, to get the birth control they need.
If he is elected in November, his conservative supporters intend to advance these measures even farther. Among the measures outlined in their “Project 2025” plan is the elimination of insurance coverage requirements for specific forms of emergency contraception and the inclusion of coverage for natural family planning alternatives.
All things considered, these policies show how easily a Trump government two may limit access to birth control, even without outright banning it. Also, with around a third of states outlawing abortion altogether, the effect would be substantially stronger.
Some conservatives were confused by the Biden administration’s efforts to expand access to contraception after the Dobbs decision. The government approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill and mandated that new types of contraception be covered by insurance.
One of the senior research associates at the blueprint’s driving forces, Emma Waters, expressed her “great concern” with the plan’s focus on increasing access to contraception.
Waters questioned the Biden administration’s support for “an absolute right to contraception” and stated her belief that the planned measures do not constitute “restrictions,” but rather “medical safeguards” for women.
She emphasized that their priority is ensuring that individuals receive the most beneficial option.
When the ex-president revealed earlier this month that he is “looking at” restrictions on contraception and promising a “interesting” policy plan “very shortly,” it prompted an outrage from the Biden campaign and other Democrats. In a subsequent social media post, he swiftly recanted the statement and vowed to never “ban” contraceptives again.
The restrictions proposed in the document are a “far cry” from pulling contraceptives off the market or criminalizing their use, according to Roger Severino, a former Trump administration official who drafted the health care section of the Project 2025 blueprint. This is in response to conservatives’ threats to do just that, according to some Democrats.
To suggest that there is a concerted effort to outlaw birth control in the United States is absurd. Where that notion came from is a mystery to me. However, Severino viewed it as an attempt at political posturing following Dobbs’s choice to deceive the public into believing that everything related to sex is out for grabs. “It’s making people afraid.”
The Biden campaign recently stated that the recent comments made by Trump regarding contraceptives are simply another instance of the disarray he has caused regarding women’s reproductive rights. This is especially evident in his appointment of three conservative judges to the Supreme Court.