Election of Donald Trump | Rising demand for contraceptive and abortion pills

A few hours after the election of Donald Trump to the American presidency, the D^r Clayton Alfonso received two messages from patients wanting to replace their IUD. In the following days, three women inquired about the possibility of having their tubes tied.

These women said the Republican’s victory was the reason they were making this choice now.

Demands for long-term contraception and permanent sterilization have increased nationwide since the election, doctors told The Associated Press.

Companies that sell emergency contraceptives and abortion pills say they are seeing large spikes in requests from people who stockpile the drugs.

One found a 966% increase in sales of emergency contraceptives from the previous week in the 60 hours after the election.

“I saw an increase after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but my patients seem more scared this time,” said Alfonso, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Duke University in North Carolina.

Even as anti-abortionists pressure Mr. Trump to impose more restrictions on abortion pills, it is unclear what will be done regarding access to contraceptives of all kinds during the billionaire’s second term.

In May, he told a Pittsburgh television station that he was prepared to support contraception regulations. However, after media reports of the interview, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he “has never and will never advocate” for restricting birth control and other contraceptives.

Mr. Alfonso stressed that women are particularly concerned about IUDs, which have been attacked by abortion opponents, who believe that life begins when an egg is fertilized.

Experts say these devices work primarily by blocking fertilization, but they can also make it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus.

A patient who requested a tubal ligation on Tuesday told Mr Alfonso she did not want children and was “absolutely terrified of forced pregnancy or not being able to access to a means of contraception.

The D^re Grace Ferguson, an obstetrician-gynecologist who performs abortions in Pittsburgh, said more of her patients were scheduling an IUD or stockpiling emergency contraceptives, telling her at the outset that it was “to cause of the change of administration.

One patient, Mara Zupko, said she wanted to get prescription emergency contraception because she is at the weight limit for Plan B, the best-known type of over-the-counter contraception. Her husband is going to have a vasectomy.

“We were always hesitant about whether or not to have children, but, as the world became scarier and scarier, we realized we didn’t want to put a child in that environment. Plus, there are risks to my health,” she said.

A phenomenon that is accelerating

Women are also turning to companies that sell emergency contraceptives online or offer abortion pills (mifepristone and misoprostol) through telehealth, a phenomenon that existed before the election but has accelerated according to some. businesses.

A study earlier this year showed that abortion pill supplier Aid Access received around 48,400 advance requests for pills from September 2021 to April 2023, with requests peaking just after news of the abortion leaked. cancellation of judgment Roe c. Wadebut before the formal announcement.

Other research showed more women had their tubes tied after the ruling was overturned Roe c. Wadewith the largest increases occurring in states that ban abortion.

Mifepristone has a shelf life of about five years and misoprostol about two years, according to Plan C, an organization that provides information on medical abortions. Plan B generally has a shelf life of four years.

Telehealth company Wisp saw orders for abortion pills spike 600% between Election Day and the day after. Between November 6 and 11, the company recorded a 460% increase in sales of its emergency contraception and birth control products.

At Winx Health, which sells emergency contraception called Restart and is focused on Gen Z, executives saw a 966% increase in sales in the 60 hours after the election compared to the week before the election. ‘election.

“Morning-after pills” are legal in all states, but Winx co-founder Cynthia Plotch said many people seem to be unsure about emergency contraception versus abortion pills.

In a 2023 poll by health policy research organization KFF, the majority of respondents said they know that these two things are not the same, but only 27% said they know that emergency contraceptive pills cannot terminate a pregnancy.

Mr. Alfonso predicts, however, that the increase in birth control and abortion pills could stabilize, as it did in 2016 and 2022. If the new administration “doesn’t focus on health care right away, I think people won’t think about it anymore until the media picks up on it,” he said.