While the outlook for Obamacare under the new Republican regime isn't entirely clear, you can bet women's health care is not going to survive. The first and foremost casualty: getting prescription birth control without a copay. Long a target of the right (Hobby Lobby, anyone?) the contraception mandate is most definitely a target of the repealers. Planned Parenthood funding, which now comes primarily from Medicaid, will be just as big a target. Expect the Republicans to find a way to shut that down.
So what's a woman of child-bearing age who doesn't want a child to do? Give to Planned Parenthood—and get thee to your doctor for an IUD, like all the other women are doing.
Planned Parenthood is reporting a spike in donations and demand for long-acting contraceptives since Donald Trump's election as U.S. president while abortion foes hope to gain momentum in their quest to cut public funding to the women's health organization.
Officials with Planned Parenthood said its patrons are worried about the impact of a Trump presidency on access to abortions and birth control in the United States. […]
Since the election, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said it has received nearly 80,000 new donations nationwide, although it did not disclose the money amount.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois said online appointments for long-acting contraceptives like IUDs, or intrauterine devices, rose nearly 50 percent in the past two days compared to the same period last week. It said it plans to increase the number of available appointments to meet demand ...
Online donations to the Texas affiliate tripled on Wednesday compared to the previous week, while 125 people have contacted the group to volunteer to help, Wheat said.
Get that long-acting contraception while it's still available and affordable because without insurance, it could cost anywhere from $200 to a whopping $2,600 including the medical exam, the IUD, the insertion of the device, and follow-up visits.
With health insurance, thanks to Obamacare, the cost of a co-pay covers your visits. An IUD, of course, is not your only option, but it might be the best one if you can tolerate hormone-based contraception. Other women—lots of them, according to the Illinois Planned Parenthood affiliate—are opting for a permanent solution. They've seen a 57 percent jump in women opting for sterilization in the past week.
So that's priority No. 1 for women who do no want to get pregnant: protect yourself. The second priority—really the first priority for everyone who isn't a woman who doesn't want to get pregnant—is to help keep Planned Parenthood solvent and make healthcare for women accessible and affordable, no matter what the Republicans manage to accomplish to end it. Your time, energy, and charitable giving dollars to your local affiliate won't be wasted.