The Trump Administration Says IUDs and the Pill Are Abortions
9.12.25
Click to skip ahead: The White House Says Birth Control Is Abortion surfaces a quote that people aren’t paying nearly enough attention to. Republicans Seek to End Title X reports that the House has passed a bill that eliminates the nation’s family planning program. California Passes Key Protection for Providers has great news about the state’s expanded shield law. Court Ruling Allows Planned Parenthood ‘Defunding’ is, unfortunately, exactly what it sounds like. In the Nation digs further into the House appropriations bill. In the States, news from Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, and more.
The White House Says Birth Control is Abortion
Today, the Trump administration told The New York Times that IUDs, hormonal implants, and the Pill are actually abortions. We’ve been waiting for this to happen.
For years, Abortion, Every Day warned that Republicans would try to ban birth control by twisting language—redefining certain contraceptives as ‘abortifacients’. It’s their best bet at staving off voter outrage: pretending that they’re opposing abortion, not birth control.
Up until recently, conservative lawmakers and activists did this behind-the-scenes—slipping the fake definition into a lawsuit here, a policy there. But they’ve been getting bolder since Trump took office. And today, they stopped pretending:
In a statement to The New York Times about the administration’s plan to destroy $10 million in birth control meant for women abroad, U.S.A.I.D. offered this statement:
“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world. The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”
That’s right, abortifacient birth control. (To be clear: Abortions end a pregnancy, birth control prevents one—abortifacient birth control is not a thing.)
So what kind of birth control does the Trump administration consider abortion? Well, the contraception awaiting incineration includes IUDs, birth control pills, and hormonal implants.
There’s no overstating how important this is. A Trump administration official just said, on the record, that the president believes some of the most common forms of birth control are abortions. Think about what that means: does the White House believe those types of contraception are illegal in states with abortion bans? Or that they should be?
This wasn’t a mistake, an error, or a misunderstanding about what kinds of drugs are being held in this warehouse: U.S.A.I.D. is currently being run by anti-abortion extremist Russ Vought, head of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Vought was a key contributor to Project 2025, the policy director of the GOP platform writing committee, and a guy Students for Life has called, “Trump’s most pro-life cabinet member.”
So yeah, they want to ban birth control.
The term used in the U.S.A.I.D. statement—”abortifacient birth control”—is also telling. I first flagged the term abortifacient contraceptives back in 2023, when it showed up in a lawsuit brought by an Oregon anti-abortion group that didn’t want to cover employees’ birth control. Just last year, the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a near-identical suit in Washington, again claiming IUDs and emergency contraception were abortions.
This isn’t some theoretical strategy; it’s already shaping policy. In 2023, for example, Indiana lawmakers tried to pass a bipartisan bill to increase contraception access—but after being lobbied by local anti-abortion activists, Republicans stripped all language referring to IUDs, claiming they were abortifacients. Republican Rep. Cindy Ledbetter said the bill was changed because “we are a strong pro-life state.”
This is exactly why language is so important, and why we’ve been so dogged about tracking anti-abortion strategy—they truly think no one will notice what they’re up to. And if mainstream outlets don’t catch on, they just might be right.
I know political news is moving quickly right now, but this deserves front-page attention: the Trump administration has officially said it believes birth control is abortion. Surely that should set off a few alarms!
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Republicans Seek to End Title X
Again—the Trump administration’s attack on birth control isn’t just rhetorical, and it isn’t some future danger: On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill that sweepingly eliminates Title X funding—entirely.
Remember, Title X is the nation’s only federal family planning program. It provides affordable reproductive health care—birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings—primarily to low-income and uninsured patients. It’s also a vital safety net: Six in 10 women who visit a publicly funded clinic consider it their usual source of medical care; for four in 10, it’s their only source.
This isn’t the first time the GOP has tried to strip Americans of access to contraception; Republicans have tried repeatedly to gut or eliminate Title X. But advocates are getting more concerned. One Indiana-based activist told AED, "There have always been threats to Title X funding, but this current administration is not messing around anymore or making compromise—and so we should be worried when they say what they are going to do.”
As we’ve noted many, many times before: Republicans don’t need a law that says birth control is illegal—they just need to make it impossible to get.
California Passes Key Protection for Providers
We still have more unfortunate news to pass on about that House appropriations bill and a Planned Parenthood court ruling—so before we dig deeper into the shit, let’s take a break for some objectively terrific news: California has passed AB 260, which will allow abortion providers to keep their names off of prescription labels for abortion medication!
As we’ve noted before, this is a crucially-needed privacy protection. Republicans are ramping up their attacks on abortion providers who ship abortion pills into anti-choice states—bringing civil suits, criminal charges, and emboldening violence against providers and clinics. This law will make it that much harder for zealous prosecutors, activists, and AGs to target providers.
And while other pro-choice states have enacted similar laws, abortion rights advocates have been especially eager for the legislation in California. As NPR noted this week, most providers aren’t shipping abortion pills themselves—they’re relying on pharmacies in California. "We're really the main hub for mailing abortion pills," Honeybee Health’s Jessica Nouhavandi told NPR. “Almost everything comes out of California.”
Even more good news: AB 260 also protects patients, allowing them to keep their name off prescription labels. It’s a protection that’s especially important to those in abusive and controlling relationships, and may help with any future legislation that targets patients. (After all, Republicans are increasingly introducing “equal protection” bills that would punish abortion patients as murderers.)
We’re living in scary times, and we need legislation like this more than ever—everywhere.
Court Ruling Allows Planned Parenthood ‘Defunding’
On Thursday, the First Circuit Court ruled that the Trump administration can enforce the “defund” portion of Republicans’ federal budget law, which bars organizations that provide abortion services from receiving Medicaid funds.
You may remember that a federal district court had issued a preliminary injunction blocking this portion of the bill from being enforced—but this most recent ruling granted a stay of that injunction. That means up to 200 Planned Parenthood clinics across the U.S. are now at risk of closure, and over 1.1 million Planned Parenthood patients will be denied basic health services.
We covered the far-ranging impacts of the defund provision earlier this summer: One in four abortion providers across the country could be forced to shutter—many in states where abortion is legal. The short version? It’s a backdoor national abortion ban:
In the Nation
While we’re trudging through bad news, let’s swing back to that House appropriations bill. In addition to eliminating Title X, Republicans are also seeking to end the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, prohibit Medicaid coverage of abortion, expand on the devastating Weldon Amendment, and interfere with postgraduate abortion training for medical students.
Congress will need to pass the appropriations bill by September 30, or we could face government shutdown. That’s right: With the government’s ability to remain open on the line, Republicans are focusing on stripping reproductive care from low-income people and pushing for more teens to get pregnant. After all, as Planned Parenthood notes, not only does the appropriations bill eliminate funding for TPPP—but it continues to fund abstinence-only sex education programs.
This, all while top conservatives are growing more and more obsessed with national fertility rates, sperm counts of young men, and seemingly more determined than ever to make children give birth. Happy Friday!
This may not be the final version of the appropriations bill that Congress passes—but it’s telling and terrifying that this is the agenda Republicans want: one with more teen pregnancies and no funding for life-saving reproductive health care.
Need a palate cleanser? Rewire spoke to Dr. Shelley Sella, author of Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care. If you want more of the brilliant Dr. Sella, watch AED’s livestream conversation with her here.
In the States
Missouri abortion advocates and providers were in court this week, fighting to legalize abortion medication. And yes, you are remembering correctly: Missouri voters did pass a pro-choice amendment meant to protect abortion rights! But GOP leaders don’t give a shit about what voters want, and they’ve been working to undo Amendment 3 since November. (They’ve even launched another ballot measure asking voters to ban abortion—using the name ‘Amendment 3’ in an effort to trick Missourians.)
With abortion medication, Republicans mandated a state-approved “complication plan”—claiming that the pills are dangerous. That’s why the ACLU of Missouri and two Planned Parenthood providers were in court this week, pointing out that the requirement has nothing to do with patient safety and everything to do with undermining the wishes of voters. In fact, the groups said that they actually provided the state with a “complication plan”—but instead of responding, state leaders created a new “emergency rule” to continue the block on the pills.
From Emily Wales, president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains:
“The state is attempting to bury in baloney what we all know to be true: medication abortion is standard reproductive health care, unquestionably protected by the state's constitution. Missourians don't just deserve better—they are entitled to it.”
We’ll keep you updated as the case moves forward. For more about the attacks on democracy in Missouri—and the groups fighting to get patients care anyway—read this terrific guest column from the Missouri Abortion Fund:
Meanwhile, over in Pennsylvania, Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity is trying to thread the needle on abortion. POLITICO reports that the state treasurer—who always held the anti-choice party line—now claims that she won’t support a state ban. She even suddenly stopped selling anti-abortion merch: her campaign website took down its “Born to be Pro-Life” onesies and “Defund Planned Parenthood” t-shirts. (Charming.)
Garrity is doing what we’ve seen from lots of Republicans these days: claiming that she’s somehow ‘moderate’ and ‘in the middle’ on the issue. But none of it is authentic: when POLITICO first asked her about her abortion stance, she panicked and asked if she could call the reporter back. Then she sent a predictable statement about “respect[ing] the current law on the books.” Here’s the real tell, though:
“I believe in the dignity of every human life, but I have always supported exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.”
That’s the new party line: Republicans truly believe the ‘three exceptions’ are their best way through voters’ ire over abortion bans. That’s why we need to remind people—again and again—that exceptions aren’t real, and that these maniacs don’t believe in them anyway.
Besides, if candidates really want to talk about exceptions, ask them how they believe the state should determine who is a ‘real’ rape victim. Ask them what ‘life of the mother’ really means. I’m curious to see if any of them will have a good answer.
Finally, the Texas Tribune digs into HB 7—the nightmare anti-abortion bill expected to be signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott any day now. The legislation allows citizens to sue anyone who mails abortion pills into the state for at least $100,000. (Really, anyone who touches the pills could be targeted: manufacturers, hotline operators, even a friend who picks up the pills from a PO Box.)
As we’ve warned previously, the real goal here is to create a chilling effect that scares providers out of sending abortion medication into Texas. And John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, confirms exactly that to the Tribune:
“If litigation is necessary, we will bring that and we have a specific legal strategy given House Bill 7 that we will follow to overcome the limits of the shield law. Our side hopes that this [bill] is a deterrent rather than needing to bring litigation.”
Everything they do is about fear and intimidation.
Quick hits:
New Orleans Public Radio reports that more states are expected to follow Louisiana’s lead and make abortion medication a controlled substance;
A Texas lawyer pens an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News arguing that the state’s newest abortion law is unconstitutional;
New Jersey Planned Parenthood has launched a new telehealth medication abortion center;
And we’re starting to see ads about abortion pop up in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race.
“The assumption that a parent is always the safest and most trusted person in an adolescent’s life is a falsehood. Sometimes parents are abusive. Sometimes the parent is the perpetrator of sexual assault. For these patients, requiring parental involvement can be dangerous.”
- Dr. Laura Dalton, chief medical operating officer for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Ms. magazine
One more thing before you go: since everyone is talking about political rhetoric, debate, and ‘free speech’, I just wanted to re-up this piece I wrote last month about the danger of platforming extremists. If you missed the column when it first published, I think you’ll find it especially relevant this week.
Trump insists we quiet down when he and his Christian Nationalist cohorts are destroying womens' lives, and pretend that they are not indeed fascists. Yeah, right. No way, no how.
There is so much extreme anti-abortion legislation being churned out that is flying under the radar - people have no idea because legacy media doesn't cover it either at all or as it should be covered - as critical new information. The story about $10M in contraceptives being destroyed was really two stories reported as one. I'm so glad AED called out the most important aspect of it being the Trump's new definition of IUDs, hormonal implants and birth control as abortifacients. It's incredible that the incessant and escalating threats to women's reproductive is so underreported. This is a human rights story that is barely getting the national coverage it deserves. I wouldn't know even a scintilla of what is happening without AED - so thank you AED for your cutting edge reporting!