Planned Parenthood says a 33 percent post-election surge in New York City women seeking long-term contraceptives is driven by fears President-elect Donald Trump will limit access to affordable birth control.
The organization’s city clinics provided 720 “long-acting reversible contraceptives” during November, including implantable birth control in tiny rods that can last up to four years, and IUDs that work for as long as a decade.
That’s a third more than the average 541 long-acting reversible contraceptives that city Planned Parenthood clinics provided each month earlier in the year, according to data obtained by The Post.
“No one knows what’s going to happen the next four years. People are just really afraid about access to affordable birth control. I am and so are a lot of my friends,” said Rachel, a 30-year-old museum worker from Hoboken, NJ, who uses a Manhattan Planned Parenthood clinic.
Trump vowed during the campaign to dismantle ObamaCare, which requires health-insurance companies to cover birth control without charge.
Without ObamaCare, the monthly co-pay for birth-control pills would be $30 to $50, Planned Parenthood says.
Women are worried that their birth-control costs will increase without ObamaCare, said Adrienne Verrilli, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of New York City.
“Thirty dollars may not seem like a lot of money to Mr. Trump, but it means a lot to many of our patients,” Verrilli said.
During his campaign, Trump also pledged to defund Planned Parenthood because the organization provides abortions. He has not said anything about Planned Parenthood since winning in November.
“I really think the issue is urgency and fear, myself included, about birth control now that Donald Trump was elected,” said Annie, a 42-year-old community coordinator who lives in Brooklyn.
“I stopped working for six months and went to Planned Parenthood for birth control and it was very cost-effective,” Annie said. “A lot of women are listening to Trump and he’s telling everyone that he’s going to defund Planned Parenthood. It creates a lot of anxiety.”
Trump’s office did not return a message seeking comment.
Since winning the election, Trump has signaled he might keep at least two aspects of ObamaCare — provisions requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions and allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.
Additional reporting by Melissa Klein