6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion (without Calling it a Ban) - Reproductive Freedom for All

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Repro Freedom Issues Explainers

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion (without Calling it a Ban)

How extremists might decimate your reproductive freedom without passing a single law.

Photo of crowd of people advocating for mifepristone in front of the Supreme Court in 2024. A person holding a sign that says "Our Bodies Our Lives Our Decisions Our Courts"

Well, it’s happening. Donald Trump and his cronies are already gutting reproductive freedom including dismantling the White House Gender Policy Council, taking down reproductiverights​.​gov, weaving anti-abortion slogans into policy (in an executive order that seeks to attack trans people, no less), and pardoning anti-abortion extremists who blockaded clinic entrances.

Did we expect less? No.

Are we giving up? Hell no.

We expect Trump and his circle of anti-abortion extremists to chip away at our reproductive rights until they effectively create a “backdoor” nationwide ban on abortion.

But, here’s the thing: because abortion is so widely supported, Republicans, Trump, and their extremist allies may never say that they’re “banning abortion.”

And the hard truth is, Trump doesn’t need Congress to pass a single law that bans abortion because he has so many other ways to do it.

Wait—what? I thought Trump said he's against a national abortion ban.

Friend, ignore what he says and look at what he does. Restricting abortion is a priority for Republicans and Trump.

Yes—even though 8 in 10 Americans support abortion.

And even though abortion was a winning issue in the elections.

And even though they lie about their anti-abortion extremism, we know that banning abortion is a priority because they told us.

They shared all the details for how they’ll do it in their Project 2025 playbook.

And now, they’re using it as a roadmap.

Read the Deep Dive

Because we’re in this fight for reproductive freedom together, you deserve to know what to expect, and how to take action.

1. Restricting medication abortion aka the abortion pill
Mifepristone is safer than Tylenol

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

1. Restricting medication abortion aka the abortion pill

Anti-abortion extremists have been trying to block mifepristone—aka the abortion pill—which is safer than Tylenol, is also used for miscarriage care, and is used in 63% of abortion care nationwide.

Extremists are trying to force the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone, or to create restrictions on it that would significantly reduce access to this safe and effective medication.

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What to watch for:

Banning mifepristone will effectively ban abortion nationwide. We’re watching for court cases regarding, or new FDA restrictions of, mifepristone, especially given Trump’s nomination of Martin Makary—a Fox News contributor who has pushed anti-abortion disinformation on air—as FDA Commissioner.

What can you do?

Rejecting Martin Makary’s nomination with us is one way to take action right now.

Take Action

2. Denying emergency medical care
People holding signs to advocate for abortion rights in front of the US Supreme Court

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

2. Denying emergency medical care

Abortion bans have led to devastating harm and tragic, preventable deaths. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that gives people the right to receive life-saving care. It’s always covered emergency abortion care—but now, anti-abortion extremists are trying to take that away. This would lead to even more devastating horror stories of people experiencing harm because they are denied proper medical care.

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What to watch for:

Court cases regarding the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Trump’s Department of Justice—under the helm of anti-abortion extremist Pam Bondi who fought for abortion restrictions when she was Attorney General of Florida—could drop these cases, fail to defend them, or even file lawsuits that challenge state laws protecting abortion rights.

What can you do?

Rejecting Pam Bondi’s nomination with us is one way to take action right now.

Take Action ↗️

Reproductive Freedom for All members holding signs in front of SCOTUS that say "Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Decisions, Our Court"

We Need You In this Fight

We should not have to wonder whether our doctors are allowed to give us the care we need. Patients and doctors should not have to fear criminal charges for seeking or providing abortion care.

We trust people to make decisions about their own body, life, and future.

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3. Blocking medication abortion and medical equipment from the mail
Trump could use a law from 1800s to ban abortion

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

3. Blocking medication abortion and medical equipment from the mail

Trump could make it so people cannot send or receive medications and medical equipment used for abortion care in the mail—effectively banning abortion nationwide. The idea is to willfully misuse the 1873 Comstock Act which bans anything "immoral" from the mail. And if doctors don't have the medicine or equipment they need to provide abortion care, that’s a ban.

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What to watch for:

Restrictions around mailing abortion medication or equipment, and references to the Comstock Act.

What can you do?

Rejecting Pam Bondi’s nomination with us is one way to take action right now.

Take Action ↗️

4. Expanding pregnancy surveillance through the HHS Department
Creates a surveillance state that tracks births and abortions

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

4. Expanding pregnancy surveillance through the HHS Department

Trump told Time that he'd “let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans"—a radical idea from Project 2025's vision for the Health & Human Services Department. This isn't a dystopian prediction—it's already happening. Trump's HHS Secretary nominee is conspiracy slinger RFK Jr. who supports a national abortion ban and promised to reinstate and expand anti-abortion policies.

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What to watch for:

News about data collection—coming out of HHS or via other government agencies—for pregnancies, miscarriages, or abortions disguised as “surveys,” attempts to violate medical records privacy, attempts to legitimize stalker-like snitching (like this recent story out of Texas where anti-abortion groups are asking men to report their partners’ abortion).

What can you do?

Rejecting RFK Jr.’s nomination with us is one way to take action right now.

Take Action ↗️

5. Blocking abortion for 160 million Americans on Medicaid
Birth control graphic: Project 2025 Restricts access to contraception for almost 48 million people

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

5. Blocking abortion for 160 million Americans on Medicaid

Under Trump, celebrity personality Mehmet Oz, who believes that decisions about abortion should be made by “women, doctors, and local political leaders” would oversee the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, putting him in charge of the program that provides health care access to 160 million Americans. His anti-abortion ideology could lead to bans on abortion and even threaten IVF and some forms of contraception.

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What to watch for:

Moves by Trump and his allies to allow states to cherry-pick which health providers qualify for Medicaid—an underhanded way of letting states block patients from receiving vital reproductive care.

What can you do?

Rejecting Mehmet Oz’s nomination with us is one way to take action right now.

Take Action ↗️

6. Writing anti-abortion lies and myths into policy
Birth control graphic: Project 2025 Restricts access to contraception for almost 48 million people

6 Ways Trump Could Quietly Ban Abortion

6. Writing anti-abortion lies and myths into policy

Weaving anti-abortion rhetoric and falsehoods into federal health policy is part of the Project 2025 playbook because it paves the way for criminalizing abortion, and could also ban stem cell research, assisted reproductive technology like IVF, and common forms of birth control. Trump already did just that after signing an executive order that attacks trans people and also contains language defining life as beginning at conception.

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What to watch for:
  • Removals of the word “abortion” from federal rules, agency regulations, contracts, grants, regulations, and legislation. The government website that offered reproductive health information, reproductiverights​.​gov, was taken down on Trump’s first week in office.
  • Additions of inflammatory, anti-abortion wording that restores broad religious and moral exceptions to block abortion care, contraception, IVF, and more.

What can you do?

We’re in a new phase of our fight for reproductive freedom and the stakes have never been higher. Our movement is ready to act—but we need you to act with us.

Reproductive Freedom for All staff advocating for reproductive freedom at the Supreme Court.

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