Conservative attacks on birth control could threaten access
Birth-control pills are being falsely categorized by some conservatives as “abortifacients” — something used to terminate a pregnancy. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
Far-right conservatives are sowing misinformation that inaccurately characterizes IUDs, emergency contraception, even birth-control pills as causing abortions
by Lauren Weber
Republican lawmakers in Missouri blocked a bill to widen access to birth-control pills by falsely claiming they induce abortions. An antiabortion group in Louisiana killed legislation to enshrine a right to birth control by inaccurately equating emergency contraception with abortion drugs. An Idaho think tank focused on “biblical activism” is pushing state legislators to ban access to emergency contraception and intrauterine devices (IUDs) by mislabeling them as “abortifacients.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion two years ago, far-right conservatives have been trying to curtail birth-control access by sowing misinformation about how various methods work to prevent pregnancy, even as Republican leaders scramble to reassure voters they have no intention of restricting the right to contraception, which polls show the vast majority of Americans favor.
The divide illustrates growing Republican tensions over the political cost of the “personhood” movement to endow an embryo with human rights, which has also animated the debate around in vitro fertilization. Mainstream medical societies define pregnancy as starting once an embryo has implanted in the wall of the uterus. But some conservative legislators, sharing the views of antiabortion activists, say they believe life begins when eggs are fertilized — before pregnancy — and are conflating some forms of birth control with abortion.
“Folks are trying to redefine when life begins, but it’s just not scientifically supported,” said Courtney Joslin, who leads public policy research on issues pertaining to women and families for the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank. “There’s just been a crowding-out effect where some far-right legislators have undermined Republicans’ ability to talk about birth control in a sensible and rational way.”
Republicans in at least 17 states have blocked largely Democratic-led attempts to pass laws assuring the right to birth control since 2022, according to a Washington Post examination of legislation. Most recently, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a bill meant to ensure access to contraceptives, saying that while he personally supports such access, he was loath to “trample on the religious freedoms of Virginians,” including medical providers.
Former president Donald Trump recently suggested in a TV interview that he was open to restricting access to contraceptives. “We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly,” Trump told KDKA News in Pittsburgh when a political editor asked whether he supported any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception. Pressed further, Trump said, “Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others.”
Trump walked back his comments after his advisers briefed him about the blowback on social media, according to a person close to the Trump campaign who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Democrats are seeking to capitalize on the moment. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) announced that he expects to hold a vote Wednesday on the federal right to contraception, forcing lawmakers to take a stand.
Birth control does not cause abortions
In Missouri, state Rep. Tara Peters said she was shocked when the bill she co-sponsored to allow women to pick up a year’s worth of birth-control pills hit a wall of opposition from fellow Republicans, some of whom she said privately accused her of promoting a “Trojan horse” bill to access abortion drugs. Despite the fact that birth-control pills do not cause abortions, the bill died.
“It was Republican men,” Peters said. “It surprises me that the ones that know nothing about those types of things are the ones that are making the decisions.”
She noted that even after she attempted to educate them, a faction continued to spread misinformation equating the pill with abortion. She warned that could have political costs for the Republican Party.
“What better year to pass this legislation than an election year to show that we are making women a priority?” said Peters, echoing an argument made by former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.
Kelley Packer, a Republican former state representative in Idaho who served as vice chairwoman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, and two other Republican women formed the Idaho Contraceptive Education Network in December to protect access to birth control by combating misinformation that conflates contraception with abortion. Their primary target: legislators who do not understand the science behind how contraception works.
“We want to make sure that policymakers are making sound decisions based on facts,” Packer said.
Many Americans do not understand the difference between abortion pills, which end a pregnancy, and emergency contraception, which prevents it. Nearly three-quarters of Americans incorrectly think that emergency contraceptive pills can end a pregnancy in its early stages, according to a 2023 poll by KFF, a nonprofit focused on national health issues.
Antiabortion groups are stepping in to fill that knowledge gap with misinformation.