Sales of birth control and emergency contraception—morning-after pills like Plan B and Restart—have increased since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, despite his assurances that he will not try to limit access.
Clinics have seen an increase in inquiries about long-acting birth control methods such as IUDs (intrauterine devices) from women concerned that they will be unable to end an unplanned pregnancy in the coming years.
Dr. Dawn Bingham, an OB-GYN in South Carolina, one of four states where abortions are illegal after six weeks, stated, “Patients are scared.”
Trump has flatly denied that his presidency will deprive women of access to birth control pills and other contraceptives.
Some women are skeptical or want to avoid risk after his previous comments.
Earlier this year, Trump suggested that he was open to state-level restrictions. And he named three of the six justices who wrote the decision that ended federal abortion access protections, fulfilling a 2016 campaign promise that his Supreme Court nominees would overturn Roe v. Wade.
His position on emergency contraception remains unclear.
He has pledged to veto a federal ban on abortion. However, there are concerns that he may continue to make it difficult to obtain nonsurgical abortions by prohibiting telehealth and interstate shipments of abortion-inducing drugs.
Winx Health, the company behind Restart, reported that weekly sales after Election Day were 36 times higher than the previous week.
Previously, single-dose packs were the most popular option, according to the company. Sales have increased by 9,000% week over week, with four-dose value packs accounting for 75% of all purchases.
Hey Jane, a company that sells emergency contraception directly to patients, reported that orders for emergency contraception increased 187% in the first three days following Trump’s victory. Mifepristone sales, which accounted for 63% of all abortions in the United States last year, increased by 25%.
Hey Jane, CEO and co-founder Kiki Freedman attempted to reassure women that access to these medications would continue.
“While we are incredibly disappointed” with the outcome of the election, she said in a statement, “we want to be clear: People can still access abortion care with Hey Jane—and we are more committed than ever to providing safe, compassionate, evidence-based reproductive and sexual health care services.”
According to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, women attempted to stock up on abortion-inducing drugs after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022.
Appointments and searches for long-acting, reversible contraception methods have also increased.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported an increase of 760% in IUD appointments the day after the election. Appointments for progestin implants, which are small plastic rods inserted in the upper arm to prevent pregnancy for three years, increased by 350%.
According to Bingham, the OB-GYN, the political climate has prompted some women to consider tubal ligation sterilization.
The day after the election, traffic to Planned Parenthood’s website on vasectomies increased by 1,200%, according to the organization.
“More patients, younger patients, and some patients who have never been pregnant are requesting permanent contraception,” Bingham told me. “The patients fear that the upcoming months may restrict or completely remove their options for long-acting, reversible contraception.”
Some of the frenzy stems from confusion about the implications of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe in June 2022.
The Constitution does not explicitly state a number of cases involving privacy rights, including Roe. Justice Clarence Thomas argued in a concurring opinion to Dobbs that the Supreme Court should revisit those as well, including rulings protecting interracial marriage and access to contraception.
Following Dobbs’ decision, numerous states, including Arizona, restricted abortion access as soon as possible. This month, Arizona voters approved a state constitutional amendment that protects abortion access based on fetal viability, overturning a 15-week ban.
Some conservative lawmakers across the country have proposed restricting access to contraception, particularly day-after pills designed for use in the event of unprotected sex. These pills work by preventing ovulation, fertilization, or implantation, which means they prevent pregnancy rather than terminate it.
According to a KFF survey conducted about six months after Dobbs, roughly half of adults reported being “unsure” whether abortion medication was still legal in their state. This included 41% of women aged 18 to 49.
Planned Parenthood’s vice president of care and access, Danika Severino Wynn, observed that many people prioritize access to sexual and reproductive health care. “Especially those who live in states where abortion care has already been banned or restricted.”
Trump has sent mixed signals.
In May, a Pittsburgh TV reporter asked if he would consider limiting birth control.
“We’re looking at that,” Trump said. He continued: “Some states are going to have different policies than others.”
The implication that he was open to restrictions sparked outrage, and he quickly walked back his comments.
“I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER, ADVOCATE FOR RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL,” he wrote on social media.
Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump administration, calls on the FDA to withdraw approval for mifepristone. Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during the campaign, but he has appointed key authors to high-level positions.
The lengthy document also advocates for the enforcement of the Comstock Act. The anti-smut law of 1873 criminalized the shipping of any drug or device that could prevent or terminate a pregnancy, and also prohibited the mail-sharing of pregnancy-prevention information.
Even before Roe ruled in 1973 that the Comstock Act was unconstitutional, it remained unused for decades. Despite several failed attempts by Congress to repeal it, it remained in effect.
In response to Dobbs, the Department of Justice declared that in order to enforce Comstock, prosecutors would need to demonstrate that the sender had knowledge of the items’ illegal use. Mifepristone, as well as the majority of drugs and materials used in abortions, has other legal uses.
The Trump Justice Department may issue a different interpretation.
In August, Trump stated that he would not seek to enforce Comstock.
He may face pressure from within his administration. Last year, Vice President-elect JD Vance and other lawmakers signed a letter urging the DOJ to use the law to prosecute the “reckless distribution of abortion drugs by mail.”
“We expect that you put the law and your obligation to enforce it above the abortion industry’s dangerous and deadly political agenda,” their letter stated.