A look back at a year’s worth of reporting on the depth of damage the Trump administration has wreaked on women’s health.
This story was originally published on The Contrarian.
When I started writing for The Contrarian, a funny-not-funny inside joke was whether there would be enough fodder for a weekly democracy column that overtly centers gender. I think you already know the punchline. Suffice it to say, I did not miss a single Wednesday, all year.
For my final entry of the year, we thought it worthwhile to offer a snapshot—a year’s worth of reporting on the depth of damage this administration has wreaked on women’s health, with real-time Contrarian and Ms. reporting noted.
Let’s start with abortion. As attacks have grown more brazen from the federal government—and against the backdrop of 41 states that now restrict abortion, 13 of which have a total ban—the number of abortions reported this year, particularly through medication, is higher than in 2022, the year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
On the one hand, this should not be a surprise. In particular, the combination of widespread access to telehealth, the availability of abortion pills, and state shield laws that enable doctors to prescribe them is indeed a game-changer. But this hardly means that all people who need an abortion are able to get one. For those who choose in-person care, travel costs and delays have increased exponentially according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health.
The new norm of chaos in the federal government has been singularly destructive: The scrubbing from public websites of vital information, banning words like “gender” and “women’s health.” Burning (quite literally) U.S. AID-purchased contraceptives. Dismantling Title X, defunding Planned Parenthood, decimating Medicaid. Reinstating the global gag rule. Pressuring agencies to undermine the safety record of mifepristone, from the Food and Drug Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency.
All of this has not only happened this year, but is being reinforced at the state level. States that already ban abortion are doubling down to curb access to telehealth, punish providers and target abortion funds and the community networks and individuals who help patients access care.
- Contrarian columns: Public Health Websites Are Going Dark, Feb. 6; Tennessee Opens a New Front In Its Unrelenting Attacks On Bodily Autonomy, July 23; Setting Fire to Women’s Health, Aug. 13; Texas Loves Its Bounty Hunters and Hates Its Women, Sept. 3.
- Ms. pieces: ‘Gagging’ Abortion Access: The Global Threat of Trump’s Second Term to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Jan. 20; The Data We Don’t Collect Is Killing Women, April 24; The Casualties of Title X Cuts: Cancer Screenings, Fertility Treatments and Sex Ed, April 24; Medicaid Cuts Will Raise Costs for Millions of Women, April 28; Why Is the Trump Administration Destroying Almost $10 Million of Contraceptives?, July 16; The Antiabortion Movement’s Decades-Long Goal Achieved: Planned Parenthood Defunded, Sept. 24.
Of course, the end game for Republicans has always been power and control, rolling back rights and freedoms. Which is why and how we are now experiencing next-level enforcement—in the form of escalating criminalization, prosecutions and surveillance of pregnancy outcomes, attempts to ban interstate travel, and growing reliance on charges of child endangerment, homicide or “abuse of a corpse” statutes in the context of pregnancy.
The toll extends far beyond those in need of reproductive care. Medical deserts, especially in southern and rural states, are cropping up fast thanks to the proliferation of restrictive abortion laws—which are well documented to be a barrier for providers from choosing to practice medicine or do a residency. Ask yourself, would you choose to train and practice in a state that not only restricts your ability to do your job and opens you up to civil and criminal penalties but also limits your and your family’s ability to access care?
Dead women and babies are the price we are paying. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy country, almost twice the average maternal mortality rate for countries with comparable economies. As rates continue to drop worldwide, they climb higher here, with Black women more than three times more likely than white women to die in childbirth. Infant mortality has risen specifically in states that enacted abortion restrictions since 2022, again with impacts worse among Black infants.
Even so, President Donald Trump has tried to convince the public he’s a pro-family, pro-natalist kind of guy—the “father of in vitro fertilization” committed to minting “Trump babies” and making the path to parenthood more affordable. But his IVF executive order and subsequent policy proposals are weak at best and meaningless for most. In any event, his own willingness to let children go hungry by withholding food assistance during the longest federal government shutdown ever made clear his true spirit.
- Contrarian columns: Trump’s Executive Order on IVF Is Full of Red Flags, Feb. 26); F Is for Fertilization (and Fool). April 1; Trump Wants a Baby Boom, April 30; Despite Trump’s Pledge, IVF Will Remain Out of Reach for Many, Oct. 22; The Trump Regime Is Turning Its Back on More Than 40 Million Hungry Americans, Oct. 29.
- Ms. pieces: Historic Cuts to SNAP Deepen the War on Women, July 3; Trump’s IVF Walkback Opens the Door to a Catholic ‘Alternative’, Sept. 3; IVF Promises, Healthcare Cuts: The New Reproductive Hypocrisy, Sept. 23; A Hunger for Justice: Why SNAP Cuts Are a Feminist Public Health Issue, Nov. 7.
Last but not least, women’s midlife health and menopause was a story this year—one where progress has been possible. More than 20 state and municipal legislatures took up an array of proposals to make menopause treatments more affordable and accessible, incentivize better education for providers, and offer stronger workplace protections. It is a distinctly bipartisan and relatively uncontroversial (for now) agenda. Last month, the FDA scrapped outdated and inaccurate warning labels on menopause hormone treatments. All of these are long overdue reforms. Trust me, I would never pinkwash this administration or back commentary by health agency leaders that they’ve got women’s best interest at heart. But I accept a win when I see it. A stopped clock can be right twice a day.
Whew! That’s a wrap! Wishing you a restorative and joyful holiday. See you in January.