Officials with a Planned Parenthood chapter serving six states – including Kentucky – say they have experienced a “significant surge” in demand for permanent and long-acting reversible birth control options following Donald Trump’s election victory earlier this month.
In the three days after the presidential election, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky scheduled nearly 1,300 appointments – about the same as the group typically schedules in one month – across its six-state coverage area for long-term reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. The demand for vasectomies post-election has already doubled the requests the group received in October, according to a press release.
Rebecca Gibron, CEO of the Planned Parenthood chapter, said increased demand for these contraceptive options was also seen in Kentucky.
“I think what this surge reflects is a national pattern of patients who are, you know, responding proactively to political uncertainty regarding reproductive rights.” Gibron said.
Healthcare providers and patients in other states have cited President-elect Donald Trump’s victory as a factor in the surge in demand for emergency contraception, abortion pills, long-acting reversible contraception and permanent sterilization as ways to avoid pregnancies. During his first term as president, Trump appointed three of the six justices that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, which led to increases in abortion restrictions across the country.
Kentucky has two Planned Parenthood clinics – one in Louisville and another in Lexington – that provide healthcare services like birth control access, emergency contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and pregnancy testing and planning. The Louisville clinic hasn’t provided abortions services since the procedure was outlawed in the Bluegrass State in 2022, and the Lexington one never provided the service. The state’s near-total ban only allows doctors to carry out the procedure when it’s necessary to save the mother’s life or to prevent permanent injuries.
In October, PPGNHAIK communications manager Nicole Erwin said Kentucky’s two clinics had 138 appointments scheduled for long-acting reversible contraceptives. The flurry of appointment requests that followed the election eclipsed those, with the Louisville and Lexington offices making 230 contraceptive appointments in the 13 days following the election. Erwin said around a quarter of those appointments were scheduled on Nov. 6 alone – the day after the presidential election.
Gibron said an upward demand trend was observed specifically with IUDs – devices that are placed in the uterus and generally reduce the ability of sperm to reach eggs, thus reducing chances of fertilization and pregnancy. This type of reversible contraceptive can be effective for between three and 10 years, depending on the type.
In the two days post-election, Gibron said 111 appointments were made in Kentucky for IUD insertions and replacements. On those same two days last year, just 10 such appointments were made.
The CEO said it’s not the first time in recent years that Planned Parenthood has received a spike in demand for birth control options. She said the group saw similar demand after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision two years ago, which overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the federal right to an abortion.
This article was updated to clarify that the Lexington Planned Parenthood clinic never provided abortion services.
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