BOSTON — Women’s health advocates in Boston tell FOX25 they’ve seen a tremendous increase since the election, and one group said they have an idea why.
In the week since Donald Trump became president-elect, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts has booked 265 appointments for IUD insertions, compared to 52 appointments in the days leading up to the election.
"I think it's a reflection of people's real concerns about their future ability to access the healthcare they need,” Communications Director Tricia Wajda said.
Those concerns are mostly based on Trump’s campaign promises, Boston University Political Historian Tom Whalen said.
"President-elect trump and his surrogates, particularly in the primaries, they were talking about defunding Planned Parenthood,” he said.
The concern is that they will also repeal the Affordable Care Act, but in because of Massachusetts’ similar health care system that has been in place since 2006 the impact could be negated.
"The affordable care act went even farther in that it ensured that most FDA approved forms of contraception would be covered at no copay,” Wajda said.
What's happening with contraceptives here now, is similar to what happened shortly after President Obama took office and vowed to tighten gun laws, Whalen told FOX25.
"A lot of people were going to the gun shops to clear them out of rifles and ammunition and that was kind of a panic move that proved to be thoroughly unjustified so I guess you could say there’s some connection here but that remains to be seen given how events will play out,” he said.
Both Whalen and Planned Parenthood said that even if the ACA were repealed under a Trump administration, it would take a great deal of time, years possibly, for the affects to be felt.
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