"Don't Know What Trump Will Do"…Unexpected 'Abortion Pill Stockpiling' Among US Women

Surge in Remote Medical Abortion Pill Orders After Presidential Election

Some American women are reportedly stockpiling 'abortion pills' ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

On the 11th (local time), the US daily newspaper Washington Post (WP) cited data from 'Aid Access,' one of the largest abortion pill suppliers in the US, reporting that the company received up to 10,000 order requests per day after the presidential election. Before the election, the average daily orders were only around 600.

Usually, abortion pills are ordered by pregnant women, but this time, there are also demands from women who are not pregnant. This is interpreted as some women stockpiling abortion pills.

An American patient is attempting to take the abortion medication 'Mifepristone' at a clinic located in Kansas City in 2022. Photo by AP Yonhap News

'Just the Pill,' a US nonprofit organization that prescribes abortion pills through telemedicine, received a total of 125 orders over three days from the 6th to the 8th, of which 22 were requests from women who were not pregnant. Julie Amaon, a representative of the organization, told the media, "Preemptive stockpiling requests are rare."

Visitors to 'Plan C,' a website providing information on purchasing abortion pills, also surged after the election. Before the election, the daily number of visitors was about 4,000, but after the election, it skyrocketed to 82,200, more than 20 times higher. Meanwhile, inquiries about contraceptive surgeries such as vasectomy and intrauterine device (IUD) insertion are also flooding in.

President-elect Donald Trump was campaigning in Pennsylvania on the 29th of last month. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Earlier, during the first term of the Trump administration, the newly constituted US Supreme Court invalidated the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which broadly recognized the constitutional right to abortion for pregnant women, through the June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As a result, laws banning abortion were concluded to be constitutional under the US Constitution.

Some women appear to be concerned that the movement to ban abortion in the US may spread further during the second term of the Trump administration. Brittany Fonteno, president of the National Abortion Federation, told the media, "It is unclear what measures the Trump administration will take," but interpreted that "(some women) think abortion will become very difficult and are preparing in advance."