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 Arizona specifically, 981,000 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 Arizona have fought to protect access to birth control in light of Roe v. Wade’s reversal two years ago.

In March, Democratic lawmakers in both the state House of Representatives and Senate attempted to use a parliamentary maneuver to force an immediate vote on the Right to Contraception Act.

The act would have protected Arizonans ability to obtain all forms of birth control including emergency contraceptives such as Plan B and would have guaranteed the right of health care providers to prescribe contraceptives and give information about them to patients. But because Republicans control both chambers, neither the House or Senate version of the bill was ever brought to committee.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs took aim at Republicans shortly after this occurred, and Sen. Priya Sundareshan, who introduced the bill in the Senate, said that “Democrats are willing to try every avenue to protect your right to contraception,” while “Republicans are willing to be a roadblock every single time.”

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.”