Fear of abortion laws Americans hoard hormones and abortion pills
Healthcare providers report unprecedented demand for reproductive and gender-affirming drugs: 'We've never seen this before'
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- Donald Trump presented himself as anti-abortion during the election campaign.
- Since his election victory as future president of the USA, women and trans people have been unsettled.
- They fear that abortion pills and hormone preparations could be banned in a Trump administration.
As the results of the presidential election were announced on Wednesday with Trump as the clear winner, women's and transgender healthcare providers have been inundated with requests for services that their patients fear could be banned in a Trump administration. Donald Trump presented himself as anti-abortion during the election campaign.
The website of Aid Access, the leading provider of abortion pills by post in the United States, received more than 5,000 requests for abortion pills in less than 12 hours. The company normally sends out 9,000 abortion pills - per month. "We've never seen that before," founder Rebecca Gomperts confirmed to the Guardian.
The telehealth service Wisp recorded a 300 percent increase in requests for emergency contraception, while the search page for abortion pills Plan C saw a 625 percent increase in traffic. "Clearly people are trying to plan for the reproductive apocalypse that we expect to happen under a Trump presidency," said Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C.
The telehealth site Hey Jane reported that demand for contraceptives had doubled, and Winx, a similar women's health service, said it had sold six times as many doses by Wednesday afternoon as it had in the previous seven days combined. "Women are smart," Winx co-founder Cynthia Plotch tells the Guardian. "We see what's coming and we protect ourselves."
Transpatients with hormone therapy are unsettled
Dr. Crystal Beal, for her part, was dealing with a flood of emails Wednesday from trans patients worried about their access to hormones and hormone-blocking therapy. Beal runs a website called QueerDoc that offers estrogen, testosterone and hormone blocker medications.
Patients are confused and have questions: How can I protect my access to medication? Should I change the gender on my legal documents again to be on the safe side? Should I stop taking medication?
Providers urge patients not to panic and assure them that they will continue to offer their services until the day they are no longer legally able to do so - and in some cases even beyond. "Someone sent us a donation today with the message: 'Don't let the bastards get you down'," says Wells.
