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Birth control access in the balance as Trump promises to repeal Affordable Care Act

President-elect Donald Trump's campaign statements about defunding Planned Parenthood and overturning the Affordable Care Act have prompted concerns about women's access to birth control. 

During the campaign, Trump promised to repeal the ACA, which currently mandates that insurance companies provide for women's health care, including birth control. 

Jen Ferris, a board member at North Carolina Women United, said birth control is vital to women's health in ways beyond preventing pregnancy. 

“It treats different reproductive illnesses," she said. "It treats emotional illnesses, and so what my organization will do is fight and tell the story of the fact that denying access to or ending coverage for birth control affects every single woman in a very real way.”

Ferris said Trump’s plans will cause pregnancy and abortion rates in North Carolina to increase because many women won't be able to afford preventive methods.

“In North Carolina, hundreds of thousands of women fall into the gap where they make less than 250 percent of median income and thus really do need subsidized birth control services," Ferris said.

Gailya Paliga, president of the N.C. branch of National Organization for Women, said defunding Planned Parenthood would diminish access to health services. 

"And all of these things are worse of course on poor women, women of less means, because they don't have options,” she said.

Ann Scheidler, the vice president of the Pro-Life Action League, said now that the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are Republican, it is likely Trump’s plans to defund Planned Parenthood would succeed. 

Scheidler also said access to birth control does not benefit women.

“It makes it easier for them to be used as sexual objects," she said. "It’s pumping artificial hormones into your body … It undermines the design for a woman’s body and it just doesn't provide anything that is any good for her."

Some social media users have encouraged women to get intrauterine devices while they are still available because they are a form of birth control that can potentially outlast Trump's presidency. Planned Parenthood has also seen a spike in donations since the election. 

Ferris said while women should get IUDs because of their reliability and effectiveness, there's no rush to get one.

“Overturning the Affordable Care Act will take some time, and so theres no need this week or next week to go get an IUD because Trump’s the president," she said.

Ferris said despite some inaccuracies, the social media push has its benefits. 

"I think it's probably a bit misguided in its messaging but the end result is still a good result in that women are taking control of their reproductive future in a long-term way," she said. 

@baileysaldridge

state@dailytarheel.com

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