Will Changes to the ACA Make It Even Harder to Get Contraception?

(November 10, 2016): Despite the Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurance companies cover contraception, prior to the election, there was already concern that many women do not have access to contraception.  Now, with the threat that President-elect Trump will seek to dismantle the ACA or target its inclusion in health care plans, these concerns have only increased. ABC News is reporting a spike in computer searches for long-acting birth control and social media posts that "women get an intrauterine device (IUD) which can 'outlast' a conservative presidency."

Even with the ACA, women with insurance faced high copayments and deductibles and other barriers to getting prescriptions. An estimated 20 million women in need of publicly funded live in counties that are  "contraceptive deserts" which the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy defines as places without one public clinic per 1,000 women.