Donald Trump’s first presidency led to restrictions on funding for reproductive health organizations like Planned Parenthood and to the nomination of Supreme Court justices who two years ago struck down federal abortion rights. Gretchen Raffa, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer of Planned Parenthood Votes Rhode Island, spoke to us about what to expect from Trump’s second term, and what local reproductive rights organizations are doing to prepare.
TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript was edited for length and clarity.
Hernandez: Gretchen, in your role at Planned Parenthood Votes Rhode Island, you do a lot of community engagement and canvassing work. What concerns are you hearing from people following Trump’s re-election?
Raffa: You know, people are understandably worried about whether or not they will continue to have access to the health care they have now, like birth control, abortion. Gender-affirming health care is really important to people and their concerns, vaccination. So I think it’s pretty fair to say that people are feeling anxious and scared, even here in Rhode Island, about their health care and exploring different ways. They’re trying to get us to prepare now for possible restrictions on their ability to get the care that they need. And they’re worried about our communities.
Hernandez: I want to know from you Gretchen, and we’ve been through a Trump term already, but what are you expecting from this second term in terms of reproductive health? What do you think is going to happen?
Raffa: I think people should know there are difficult fights to come, right? We can and should be anticipating attempts to ban abortion nationally, either through Congress or through the administration. We are preparing for efforts to defund Planned Parenthood through a variety of administrative and Congressional mechanisms. I just want to make it clear, too, that Donald Trump doesn’t need to sign an abortion ban in order to eliminate access. He ran from his record and said he wouldn’t ban it nationwide. We’re going to hold them accountable to that, but we know what to expect because the plan for a de facto ban is laid out black and white in Project 2025. So Trump and his allies may try to restrict access to abortion by misapplying a law from the late 1800s called the Comstock Act, which would make it illegal for providers, pharmacists, drug manufacturers to mail or ship the abortion drug Mifepristone or other items necessary for abortion and miscarriage management. They might ban abortion nationwide by revoking the FDA approval of Mifepristone, both with or without the help of Congress. We’ve faced the Trump administration before, but this time looks different. 2025 is an entirely different landscape than 2017. You know, there’s no longer federal protections for abortion. Abortion bans and restrictions are in effect in 21 states. The bottom line is there are many unknowns in the next administration, and that is a challenge on its own.
Hernandez: I do want to mention, Project 2025 was created by the think tank Heritage Foundation. Trump during the campaign did try to separate himself from it, just to mention that. Let’s talk about that briefly. I mean, yes, there may be a long list, but just maybe a couple of points, if you could tell me what is Planned Parenthood doing to prepare once he takes office in January?
Raffa: We are looking to work with our administration in Rhode Island and our state elected officials to see how we can further strengthen protections under state law for birth control, for making sure that we are looking at fertility health care because we know they might be coming for IVF, what we can do to put a backstop against any of these federal threats. So we are absolutely in conversations with our administration, with the attorney general’s office, with our state elected leaders to make sure that we are building a defense against any of these federal threats.
Hernandez: Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022, over a dozen states have banned abortion or greatly restricted it, mostly in the South and Midwest. New England is a region where abortion rights are largely protected. Do you have any reason for concern about threats to reproductive health in this part of the country?
Raffa: Absolutely, because a national ban and a federal law will really trump state law. So there is a real concern that, as much as we have done in the state of Rhode Island over the last five years to protect and solidify our right to legal abortion and making sure people have access to safe, legal abortion and protecting patients and providers, again, there’s a lot of unknowns with how Project 2025 will play out. That is something that we are considering every day and looking at. What we can continue to do is rely on our state elected leaders. Thankfully, we know that the majority of Rhode Island voters believe that everyone should have the right to control their bodies, lives, and futures, and voted to elect leaders at the state level. So we now have a majority of pro-sexual and -reproductive health and rights champions in our state Senate, in our state House of Representatives.
Hernandez: I’m wondering, with the restrictions to abortion access in other states, if we’ve seen a ripple effect in this part of the country.
Raffa: I know there have been patients that have come to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England health centers that have traveled from out of state. And yes, absolutely, other health care providers have expressed that they have been seeing patients from states that have banned this essential care. I think we’re going to continue to see more of that. There are a lot of states that border these states that have banned abortion that are seeing a greater surge of patients that are getting care. And unfortunately, we are seeing a reality in our country where women are dying that are facing pregnancy complications that have been denied health care at their hospital emergency rooms because of their state abortion bans.
Hernandez: We’ve got less than two months before Donald Trump’s inauguration. What are you telling people as to how to prepare, who have concerns? You know, what are you telling people in the region about what to do to prepare? And how are you preparing?
Raffa: That’s a really great question. We are in a challenging moment. I know we’re going to win the long game because our human rights are on the line. So I keep saying to people, we need to rest up now, take time to process our feelings from this election and join us when they’re ready because we need to really turn our anger into action for the bigger fight ahead. I would say, though, I just want to be clear that today nothing has changed in Rhode Island, and our legal rights are still protected and people can still access that health care. The election hasn’t changed that.
