Tracking the Attacks on Reproductive Freedom Under Trump 2.0

Trump signaled that he does not plan to require health insurers to provide coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, backtracking on his campaign promises to make IVF free.

On the campaign trail, Trump falsely promised the government “will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment.” He even dubbed himself the “Father of IVF,” but now—to no one’s surprise—he is backtracking on these promises.

Congress passed Trump’s bill canceling $9 billion in already approved funding, H.R. 4, slashing $500 million from the U.S. global reproductive health budget.

Anti-abortion extremist Russ Vought, the head of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, confirmed that the cuts are aimed at next year’s global family planning and reproductive health programs.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, this move could cause 47.6 million people globally to lose access to care—resulting in 17.1 million more unintended pregnancies and 34,000 maternal deaths.

Senate Republicans blocked an amendment to protect this funding, led by Sen. Rosen (D-NV)—failing by just one vote.

Joshua Divine was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for Missouri’s Eastern and Western Districts.

Divine has aggressively attacked reproductive freedom, including representing Missouri in baseless challenges to FDA authority over mifepristone and fighting to block abortion rights from being enshrined in Missouri’s state constitution.

His confirmation follows similar picks like Whitney Hermandorfer and affirms Trump’s push to fill courts with anti-abortion loyalists.

Hermandorfer has an extensive anti-abortion record. She defended Tennessee’s total abortion ban as lead counsel, and also challenged an HHS rule requiring Title X providers to tell patients where to get an abortion if they asked.

The bill cuts off Planned Parenthood’s funding, blocking  access to abortion, birth control, and essential care for millions. Trump’s budget also slashes $880 billion from Medicaid and strips Planned Parenthood of funding to bankroll tax cuts for billionaires.

Ten million people are expected to lose health care coverage. This is an attack on basic care, especially for low-income families, pregnant people, and communities of color.

Trump’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, led by Mehmet Oz, just opened the door for hospitals to deny life-saving care—without consequences. This rollback guts protections for pregnant patients in crisis.

FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, responding to political pressure from Senator Josh Hawley, announced an unnecessary review of mifepristone.

This move ignores two decades of scientific consensus on the medication’s safety and instead follows anti-abortion disinformation. It’s part of a coordinated campaign to ban mifepristone and restrict abortion nationwide.

Trump is stacking every branch of government with loyalists who will help him attack reproductive freedom, including our federal courts.

Trump nominated Whitney Hermandorfer to the Sixth Circuit and four others—including Joshua Divine and Maria Lanahan—to federal courts in Missouri. All have extensive anti-abortion records.

Trump nominated Jordan Pratt and John Guard—two anti-abortion extremists with long records of attacking reproductive freedom—to lifetime seats on the federal bench.

Pratt, a former lawyer at the anti-abortion advocacy group First Liberty Institute, blocked abortion access for young people, and pushed anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

Guard defended Florida’s abortion ban, tried to block Florida voters’ efforts to protect  abortion rights, and urged the Supreme Court to let states block Medicaid patients from accessing Planned Parenthood health care services.

At a Senate hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he had asked FDA Commissioner Makary to conduct a “complete review” of mifepristone.

The move is baseless—fueled by disinformation, not science—and comes just weeks after Makary signaled he was open to restricting the medication.

In the case that could ban mifepristone nationwide, Trump’s DOJ made clear: protecting federal power matters more than protecting abortion access.

Rather than strongly defending mifepristone’s safety and efficacy, the DOJ took a narrow position—leaving the door wide open for future attacks on medication abortion.

Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s HHS proposed $40 billion in budget slashes—targeting maternal health care, STI testing, and other vital programs.

The strategy is deliberate: starve the system, then claim it’s failing. These cuts will hit low-income communities and people of color the hardest.

Trump’s FDA Commissioner Martin Makary signaled he’s open to restricting mifepristone, despite more than 20 years of data proving the drug’s safety and effectiveness.

It’s another sign that science is taking a backseat to anti-abortion politics in Trump’s FDA.

Trump slashed funding for CDC programs focused on maternal health and fertility. Experts warn the move will further restrict access to care and deepen reproductive health disparities—especially in rural areas and communities of color.

The Trump administration gutted key federal health agencies, placing more than 7,000 employees on administrative leave. Impacted agencies include the CDC, NIH, FDA, and CMS.

This mass sidelining weakens the very institutions that support countless people, including pregnant people and their families.

Harmeet Dhillon, nominee for U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Dean John Sauer, nominee for U.S. Solicitor General, and Aaron Reitz, nominee for Director of the Office of Legal Policy, have now all been confirmed to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Their confirmations further cement the clear pattern of Trump filling his administration with anti-abortion extremists—loyalists who will enact his out-of-touch policies.

Trump froze federal funding to reproductive health care providers across the country. Title X is the nation’s family planning program and its providers offer essential health services—such as birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment—to young people and adults who have low incomes.

Title X helps ensure that everyone—no matter how much money they make—can access reproductive health care.

These funding cuts have already forced some Planned Parenthood health centers to close, leaving thousands of people without access to health care like birth control and cancer screenings.

The Trump administration dropped a federal lawsuit that could have protected emergency abortion care—a move that sends a clear, chilling message: they are okay with letting pregnant people die.

 

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In an interview with Fox News following his confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that Trump has asked for a study on the safety of abortion pills, and he has not made a decision on whether to tighten restrictions on the pills.

✅ Fact Check: Mifepristone (aka an abortion pill) is the most common method of abortion care, deemed safe by hundreds of scientific studies and approved by the FDA for more than 20 years, and has been the target of anti-abortion extremists as an avenue for banning abortion nationwide.

Trump directed federal agencies to review all funding for NGOs with an explicit note that future grants must align with the Trump administration’s stated priorities and national interests, as determined by agency heads.

This directive could significantly impact organizations that provide reproductive health services. The Trump administration opposes abortion rights and he’s filled his cabinet with anti-abortion extremists, making it likely that this funding review will target NGOs offering reproductive health care.

In yet another power move, Trump established the White House Faith Office, a pipeline for religious groups to shape federal policy. This office will push so-called faith-based initiatives, train agencies in religious exemptions, and even plant “Faith Liaisons” in every department.

The kicker? It gives Christian nationalist groups a direct line to the DOJ—paving the way for a government that favors religious extremism while sidelining those who don’t fall in line. Terrifying.

USAID’s reproductive health funding has saved millions of lives. Now it’s gone. The United States Agency for International Development was one of the world’s largest providers of contraception through its family planning program.

In a chilling move, Trump issued an executive order pushing the Christian nationalist agenda under the guise of fighting so-called “anti-Christian bias.”

The order calls for a federal task force to investigate government policies deemed “hostile” to Christians—essentially an open invitation to rewrite the rules in favor of religious extremists.

Worse, it takes direct aim at the FACE Act (Freedom for Access to Clinic Entrances Act), the law that protects abortion clinics from harassment and violence.

Trump already pardoned over 20 people convicted under the FACE Act, signaling to anti-abortion radicals that intimidation tactics will go unpunished. Now, with this order, he’s doubling down—giving extremists even more power to rewrite the law in their favor.

Trump issues an executive order backing the discriminatory Hyde Amendment and rescinding Biden-era abortion protections.

By overturning Biden’s executive orders (EO 14076 and EO 14079), he removed safeguards that expanded reproductive rights—making it even harder for low-income and marginalized communities to access abortion care.

The Hyde Amendment has long blocked federal funds for abortion, forcing those on Medicaid and other federal programs to navigate financial barriers to essential health care.

Trump’s Justice Department issued a memo ordering federal prosecutors to ignore violations of the FACE Act, giving a free pass to people who were found guilty of harassment and violence. The FACE Act has been a vital piece of legislation to help protect patients and providers in health clinics nationwide.

Even worse, the memo bans new abortion-related FACE Act cases unless personally approved by DOJ leadership, making it even harder to hold extremists accountable. The message is clear: under Trump, attacks on abortion providers and patients will go unchecked.

Rubio signed the U.S. back onto a global anti-abortion pact, aligning with authoritarian regimes like Uganda, Saudi Arabia, and Belarus to restrict reproductive health care access.

This marked one of the first formal steps in Trump’s plan to roll back Biden-era global health policies—and a clear signal that his administration will work to limit abortion access for millions of women and girls worldwide.

Trump ordered a pardon of individuals convicted of violating the Freedom for Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), giving a free pass to people who were found guilty of harassment and violence. The FACE Act has been a vital piece of legislation to help protect patients and providers in health clinics nationwide.

By giving a free pass to people found guilty of intimidation and violence, he’s sending a clear message: harassing providers and patients comes with no consequences under his watch.

Trump reinstated the global gag rule, cutting off foreign aid to health centers unless they agree to stay silent on abortion—even when using their own funds. This policy strips resources from clinics providing lifesaving care, forcing providers to choose between funding and fully serving their patients.

The result? Fewer health services and a direct attack on reproductive freedom worldwide.

The White House threw its full support behind an anti-abortion policy, H.R. 21, that attacks health care providers and interferes in personal family medical decisions.

This isn’t about policy—it’s about control. By championing legislation that strips away reproductive rights, Trump is making it clear: his administration will stop at nothing to undermine abortion access and punish those who provide it.

Wasting no time, GOP lawmakers rushed voting on anti-abortion legislation, seizing on Trump’s executive actions to double down.

The legislation would have attacked providers and interfered with private family medical decisions and patient care. Senate Democrats ultimately blocked the GOP’s legislation.

 

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NPR reported that Trump’s Health & Human Services department deleted from its website any mention of abortion related to Biden-era policies protecting abortion and other reproductive health care services.

Any remaining references to abortion cite policies from the first Trump administration or contain broken links.

In a blatant attack on reproductive freedom on his first day in office, the Trump administration took down ReproductiveRights.gov, a federal website that provided the public with critical information about abortion access and legal protections.

The move is a clear attempt to suppress facts and make it harder for people—especially those in vulnerable communities—to navigate their rights and find care.

Scrubbing this resource wasn’t just bureaucratic housekeeping—it sends a clear signal of the administration’s intent to attack abortion access and pave the way for even more restrictions.

Trump introduced an executive order attacking trans people that uses “personhood” language—an effort to redefine life as starting at conception into federal law by anti-abortion extremists.

If so-called personhood language becomes law, it could have sweeping consequences—criminalizing abortion, banning stem cell research, restricting IVF, and restricting birth control access.

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that the addition of this language was intentional when he spoke at March for Life later that week.

Trump rescinded Biden’s executive order that established the White House Gender Policy Council, dismantling a key effort to advance gender equity, reproductive freedom, and equal opportunity.

This move is more than symbolic—it’s a deliberate attack on policies that protect women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalized communities.

By shutting down the Council, Trump is sending a clear message: gender equity and reproductive rights mean nothing in his administration.

Trump is stacking his cabinet with hardline anti-abortion extremists who are poised to gut access to birth control, abortion, and essential reproductive health care.

His cabinet is a band of conspiracy slingers, religious hardliners, Fox News talking heads, and scandal-ridden cronies—likely more focused on pushing an extreme Project 2025 agenda than actually governing.