Within hours of Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Americans began scrambling to stockpile reproductive health medications, including emergency contraception and abortion pills, amid widespread concerns that his administration may restrict access to these essential resources.
The abortion pill mifepristone — sold as Mifegymiso in Canada and Mifeprex in the U.S. — is flying off the shelves, with online retailers reporting an increase in demand as people take proactive steps to protect their reproductive autonomy, Elissa Wells explained. One of the founders of Plan Can American public health initiative that helps facilitate medical abortion.
“Before the election results came in, earlier this month, we had 4,500 visitors a day. Yesterday, we had 82,900 visitors. “It’s a huge increase in the number of people looking for information about how to access an abortion,” she said. “We also know from speaking with providers that they have seen a significant increase in requests for abortion pills.”
Wells believes the post-election surge in claims will continue for some time, as people take steps to secure their reproductive health choices for the future.
This is because the abortion pill is a controversial issue in the United States in June, before the US Supreme Court The bid was rejected by anti-abortion groups and doctors To restrict access to abortion pills. About half of US states allow mifepristone to be prescribed and delivered online, while other states either restrict its availability or ban it altogether.
Although mifepristone remains legal in many states, there is growing concern that access to it may become more restricted under the Trump administration, especially in light of the former president’s hesitant stance on a potential ban.
“What’s really happening is people are afraid abortion won’t be available, even in states that currently provide it. There’s a lot of fear in the United States. It’s hard to know if that fear is justified,” Wells said.
“Based on what Trump has said about abortion…he has backed away from it over the years.”
Americans are not only stocking up on abortion pills, but also purchasing other reproductive health medications such as birth control and emergency contraception.
Wisp, a US-based online sexual and reproductive health company, told Global News that it has seen a spike in demand for Plan B (emergency contraception) since Trump won the presidency.
Get weekly health news
Get the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
On November 6, emergency contraceptive pill sales rose nearly 1,000%, with contraceptive sales up 50% and new patient purchases of emergency contraception up 1,650%. A company spokesman said orders for medical abortion pills jumped 600 percent from November 5 to 6.
The Hi-Jin telehealth clinic reported a 27 percent increase in medical abortion requests, a 35 percent increase in birth control orders, and a 123 percent increase in emergency contraception requests the day after the presidential election.
Mifepristone It is prescribed to terminate pregnancy by dilating the cervix and blocking progesterone, which is necessary to maintain the pregnancy. It is usually taken with a second medication, misoprostol, which causes the uterus to spasm and contract. The dual drug regimen is used to terminate a pregnancy within 10 weeks in the United States
Mifepristone is legal in Canada and the United States and is available by prescription. The abortion pill, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000, is used in more than 60% of abortions in the United States.
The FDA said that after decades of use by millions of women in the United States and around the world, mifepristone has proven to be “extremely safe,” and that studies have shown that “serious adverse events are extremely rare.”
The mifepristone and misoprostol regimen is also in the World Health Organization List of essential medicines.
In Canada, abortion pills can be prescribed for up to nine weeks of pregnancy for use on the label. Doctors can prescribe it off-label for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy as it has been used safely and effectively up to gestational age and beyond.
Medical abortion using mifepristone is 95 to 98 percent effective When used as directed. Risk of serious complicationsSuch as infection or bleeding that may require hospitalization or blood transfusion, it is only 0.4 percent.
Wells explained that mifepristone has a shelf life of about five years, while misoprostol lasts about two years. Because of this extended shelf life, she recommends people consider keeping abortion pills on hand as a precaution.
“Many of the providers we work with offer the option of getting abortion pills in advance and storing them just in case. “With the next administration, we suggest people consider this,” she said. “Be prepared — the medications last for years, and it’s a low-cost way to Fair enough to have something essential in your medicine cabinet.”
What did Trump say about abortion pills?
In an interview published in April Time magazineTrump declined to comment on access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
“Well, I have an opinion on it, but I’m not going to explain it. I’m not going to say that yet. But I have very strong views on it. I’ll probably release it within the next week,” he said in an interview with Time magazine.
In the first presidential debate of 2024 with President Joe Biden in June, Trump stated that he would not restrict access to abortion medications if elected.
However, Project 2025, the conservative governance blueprint drawn up by former Trump officials and other close advisers, and which he has said he is not involved in, calls on the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of the abortion pill.
The number of searches on Google has increased
Google searches for reproductive rights also rose after Trump won the election.
On November 6, Google searches for “vasectomy” spiked, with the highest search volumes coming from Utah, Alaska, Indiana, Nebraska, and Kentucky. Abortion is banned in Kentucky and Indiana, while Utah has an 18-week abortion ban, and Nebraska has a 12-week abortion ban.
The search term “Does Planned Parenthood perform vasectomy” has also risen by 450 percent over the past few days, according to Google.
“Bilateral salpingectomy,” a surgical procedure that involves removing the fallopian tubes, also rose in Google searches.
In addition, “female sterilization,” “vasectomy cost,” “tubal ligation,” and “abortion pill shelf life” rose in price and appeared as sub-terms.
Wells said it’s difficult to predict what will happen over the next four years during the Trump administration, but she said organizations like Plan C are “planning for the worst.”
“We plan to bring the pills into the country if they become unavailable through major medical providers. We have been working on this for 10 years, and we have systems set up and scaled to help meet the need for access.”
“Because we will still need to access abortion care when a state or state bans abortion, that does not change the demand for abortion care.”
—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
