Donald Trump's re-election threatens abortion rights: Demand for pills surges as providers brace for impact
By Sunita Iyer | First Published Nov 7, 2024, 6:13 PM ISTA surge in demand for reproductive and transgender healthcare services following Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, driven by fears of restricted access to abortion pills, contraception, and hormone therapies.
In the wake of Donald Trump's historic win in the 2024 US presidential election, reproductive health and trans healthcare providers across the United States reportedly witnessed an unprecedented surge in demand for services, including abortion pills, emergency contraception, and hormone therapies.
78-year-old Trump emerged victorious in the race for the White House on Wednesday, securing his position as the 47th President of the United States. He defeated his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in a decisive victory. Trump had previously served as the 45th President following his first election win in 2016.
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Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Aid Access, the leading supplier of abortion pills by mail in the US, was in Paris with her team when the results were handed down. According to a report in The Guardian, within hours of Trump’s victory, Aid Access, which already ships more than 9,000 abortion pills a month, received over 5,000 requests for pills in less than 12 hours. “We’ve never seen this before,” Gomperts was quoted as saying in the report.
The sudden spike in demand was not only larger than expected but even exceeded the volume seen after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The spike in demand reflects widespread anxiety about the potential dismantling of abortion rights and reproductive health services under a second Trump term. The former president’s appointments to the Supreme Court and lower courts have already paved the way for stricter abortion bans in red states, and many anticipate further action to limit access to medication abortions.
Abortion providers brace for increased requests
The surge in requests was not isolated to Aid Access. Other women’s health providers also reported dramatic increases in demand. Telehealth service Wisp, which provides emergency contraception, saw a 300% increase in requests, according to the report. The website Plan C, which helps individuals find abortion pills, saw a staggering 625% rise in traffic.
Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, attributed the increase to the widespread concern over the future of reproductive rights, adding that people are "trying to plan for the reproductive apocalypse" they anticipate under Trump’s leadership.
In response to these concerns, Aid Access, which had been preparing for such a scenario since the previous Trump administration, operates a streamlined system to meet demand. The organization’s eight physicians and 15 support staff work remotely to ship abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is restricted, even if the procedure is still legal in other parts of the country.
Trans healthcare providers respond to growing concerns
The anxiety extended beyond reproductive health. As per the report, providers of gender-affirming care, such as QueerDoc, which supplies hormones to trans patients, also experienced a spike in inquiries. Dr. Crystal Beal, founder of QueerDoc, noted that the site had received more messages in a single day than in an entire week, as trans patients expressed concerns about their access to hormones and gender-affirming care. Many patients asked whether they should stock up on medications, change legal documents, or even stop their treatments in anticipation of future restrictions.
QueerDoc, which offers estrogen, testosterone, and hormone-blocking therapies, advised patients to prepare by ensuring they had access to as much medication as possible, even suggesting they make their supplies last longer through reuse when needed.
“I have to tell people I ultimately can’t predict the future or make that choice or decision for them, and I certainly can’t give legal advice,” Beal told The Guardian.
“But changing your documentation or stopping your medication does not make you any less of a man or a woman, or any less trans. Who we are is not designated by what our documents say or what medications we take," Beal added.
While providers acknowledged the uncertainty, they also emphasized that they would continue providing care as long as they legally could, with some even pledging to keep their services available despite potential legal challenges. Wells, co-founder of Plan C, shared a message of defiance: "Politicians are not going to stop access, and they’re not going to stop us.”
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