Project 2025 would threaten women’s access to emergency contraception

Project 2025 specifically states that certain types of emergency contraception would be excluded from the no cost coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act should it be implemented. 

For over a decade, most American women have been able to access birth control and other preventive health services at no cost due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Project 2025—a 900-page plan put together by the Trump-aligned, right-wing Heritage Foundation—wants to change that by excluding certain forms of emergency contraception—like Plan B and other forms of the morning after pill—from no cost coverage.

The ACA requires that most private health insurance plans provide no-cost coverage for recommended preventative services, without coinsurance, copayment, or deductible. This provision includes every form of birth control approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–including Plan B and other forms of emergency contraception.

According to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress (CAP), if Project 2025 is put into effect, 48 million American women could lose their guaranteed no-cost access to emergency contraception.

In North Carolina specifically, 1.6 million women of reproductive age–or those ages 15-49–could lose guaranteed no-cost emergency contraception coverage.

If this were to happen, these women wouldn’t have access to that contraception when they need it. And according to a new national survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, nearly one-quarter of reproductive-age women who have ever had sex with a man report having used emergency contraception at some point so far in their lives. 

Democratic efforts to protect access to birth control

Meanwhile, Democrats in North Carolina have fought to protect access to birth control in light of Roe v. Wade’s reversal two years ago.

In May, Democrats in the state Senate introduced Senate Bill 808, a measure that would protect access to contraception. Last month, they renewed their call for the bill’s passage on the anniversary of Roe’s reversal.

Sen. Lisa Grafstein of Wake County, a co-sponsor of the bill, specifically highlighted its significance.

“I think the arguments before the Dobbs decision that people were being hysterical about the fall of Roe have been proven to be false,” Grafstein said. “We are seeing the same trajectory happen with birth control as it did with abortion.”

On the federal level, Democratic lawmakers have attempted to protect birth control access, as well. But Senate Republicans recently blocked a bill that would have guaranteed access to birth control under federal law.

Specifically, the bill would have cemented the right for Americans to obtain and use birth control without government interference. It would have also protected the right of health care providers to distribute information about contraception and provide it to patients, and also ensured that patients had a right to access condoms, birth control pills, intrauterine devices (IUDs), vasectomies, and more.

Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the bill and nine failed to show up for the vote, while 49 Democrats voted for the bill, with one missing the vote. In accordance with Senate rules, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) changed his vote to no at the last minute, which will allow him the chance to reintroduce the bill again at a later date.

President Joe Biden was quick to condemn Republicans for blocking the bill, calling it an “unacceptable” decision.

“My administration alongside Democrats in Congress will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and keep taking action to strengthen access to affordable, high-quality contraception,” the president said in a statement. “And we will continue to urge Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all.”