Trump’s Plans Would Gut No-Cost Coverage of Birth Control for More than 60 Million Women and No-Cost Emergency Contraception for 48 Million Women

On the anniversary of Trump announcing his intent repeal the Affordable Care Act, DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, most Americans receive contraception without paying out-of-pocket costs – it’s one of the law’s most popular provisions. But with Trump hellbent on terminating the ACA if he retakes power, more than 60 million women could lose their access to free birth control under their health plans, and his Project 2025 agenda would rip away access to no-cost emergency contraception for 48 million women. This election, Americans have a clear choice: give Trump and Vance unlimited power over our bodies and futures by tearing away access to Plan B and birth control and raising health care costs, or elect Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to defend our freedoms and fight to make access to affordable reproductive care a reality for all.”

Trump is hellbent on ripping away the ACA, gutting coverage for birth control and raising health care costs for more than 60 million women. 

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

MSNBC: “Eyeing another Trump term, Vance leaves ACA repeal on the table”

National Women’s Law Center: “Over 62.4 million women now have coverage of birth control and other preventive services without out-of-pocket costs. Women across the country are using the benefit and reaping the benefits of birth control, both to their health and economic security.”

“The birth control benefit is an extremely popular part of the ACA […] Majorities support the birth control benefit. A 2015 survey found that over 77% of women and 64% of men support laws requiring health insurance plans to cover the full cost of birth control. And a 2017 poll found that over 77% of women want the birth control benefit to continue.”

Planned Parenthood: “Before the ACA’s birth control benefit went into effect, contraception accounted for  30% to 44% of women’s out-of-pocket health care costs.”

Center for Public Integrity: “In Trump’s first year in office, federal agencies weakened the ACA’s contraceptive mandate, allowing employers to deny birth control coverage if they had a religious or moral objection. Though the rollback was quickly tied up in the courts, dozens of employers signed separate settlements with the administration allowing them to refuse to cover birth control.

“Meanwhile, the Trump administration took aim at other federal programs designed to promote reproductive health and access to birth control, including Title X, which funds services like contraceptive counseling and cervical cancer screenings for low-income Americans.”

Heritage Foundation: “It seems to me that a good place to start would be a feminist movement against the pill, & for… returning the consequentiality to sex.

“Conservatives have to lead the way in restoring sex to its true purpose, & ending recreational sex & senseless use of birth control pills.”

Trump’s Project 2025 plans would rip away no-cost access to emergency contraception through the Affordable Care Act for 48 million women:

National Women’s Health Network: “Project 2025 makes many harmful directives. The key proposals related to sexual & reproductive health include:

“Directing the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to eliminate coverage of emergency contraception (EC) under its preventive services guidelines, falsely equating EC to medication abortion pills.”

Center for American Progress: “A new Center for American Progress analysis estimates that if Project 2025 were enacted, nearly 48 million women of reproductive age would lose their guaranteed no-cost access to emergency contraception.”

Rolling Stone: “The attacks on mifepristone and resurrection of Comstock stand out as particularly harmful proposals, but they are only two of the dozens of ways the Republicans behind Project 2025 envision restricting access to abortion and contraception if they win the White House next year. Elsewhere in the document, there are proposals to eliminate the morning-after pill from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate under the rationale that it is a ‘potential abortifacient.’”

The 19th: “In [Project 2025], they encourage [Trump] to remove emergency contraception from the coverage mandate contained in the Affordable Care Act, saying it is a ‘potential abortifacient’ and ‘close cousin’ to mifepristone.”

Politico: “Conservatives’ ‘Project 2025’ blueprint includes proposals to require coverage of natural family planning methods and remove requirements that insurance cover certain emergency contraception.”

When Trump was in office, he came just one vote short of achieving his goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act, but succeeded at weakening its provisions. Combined with his overturn of Roe, Trump is already responsible for reducing access to birth control for millions of women.  

Politico: “As president, Trump enacted several policies that made it more difficult for people, particularly the working class and the poor, to obtain contraception. […]

“During Trump’s four years in office, his administration slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has allowed at least 58 million women to access birth control with no out-of-pocket costs.

“Federal health officials in Trump’s administration also issued rules allowing virtually any employer to refuse to cover contraception in their health plans, a policy supporters of the former president hope will be restored in 2025.

“The administration’s biggest impact on contraception access came from its overhaul of the federal Title X program, which provides free and subsidized birth control, STD screenings and other services to millions of low-income people.”

CNN: “The prescription rate for emergency contraception in the states with bans was less than half of what it was before the Dobbs decision – dropping from about 20 fills for every 100,000 women of reproductive age each month down to eight fills. In states where abortion policies stayed consistent, the rate actually ticked up in the same timeframe – from 20 to 21 fills […]”

Reuters: “The most recent attempt to repeal Obamacare fell one vote short in July, in a humiliating setback for Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”