Trump and birth control: women getting IUDs to beat Obamacare repeal

Feb. 06--Florida Atlantic University senior Kheyanna Suarez is under pressure.

The stress is not from upcoming exams or landing a job after graduation. It's the worry that her ability to pay for birth control will disappear under President Donald Trump.

Suarez's intrauterine device (IUD) expires in about six months, but she doesn't know whether the Affordable Care Act will still be around to foot the bill. Trump has made it a priority to repeal Obamacare, which guaranteed no-cost birth control.

"This all puts me in an awkward position," said Suarez, who is studying exercise science and health promotion at FAU in Boca Raton. "I'm kind of nervous. Should I reach out to the doctor and try to renew the prescription now or I should wait? I don't know how to go about it."

Suarez is not alone in her conundrum. Women who rely on Obamacare to make their birth control affordable are making a run on getting IUDs before the coverage becomes a political casualty.

A data set compiled by analysts for the electronic health record AthenaHealth reported intrauterine device prescriptions and procedures increased 19 percent between October and December.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America reports that since the election, the number of women trying to get an appointment for an IUD went up 900 percent. Without Obamacare, out-of-pocket costs for IUDs can range from $500 to $1,000, the organization reports.

"We are seeing a disturbing trend in the leadership and the appointees of President Trump," said Laura Goodhue, executive director for Florida Planned Parenthood. "They are anti-abortion and they don't support access to reproductive health services. Women are concerned."

'Extreme record'

And they are concerned on several fronts.

Trump's new Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, a federal appeals judge, is best known for his ruling that Hobby Lobby could deny birth control coverage for employees because of the company's constitutional right to religious freedom.

The president's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services -- Georgia Congressman Tom Price -- told the Senate during his confirmation hearing last month that women should pay for birth control.

"He has a record of inserting himself in women's health care policies and voting to not support access to reproductive policies," Goodhue said. "He has a long, extreme record of opposing no co-pay birth control."

The opposition by some women to the fledgling Trump presidency was seen in protests in Washington D.C. and throughout the country following the billionaire's inauguration.

Sid Dinerstein, former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, said liberals are trying to scare the public with talk of doom-and-gloom about Trump and an Obamacare repeal.

"When there is no longer an individual mandate under Obamacare, the health insurance companies will create a program that will get them happy customers like any other industry," he said. "It doesn't matter if we are talking about birth control or a kid getting a cast on a broken arm."

55 million on birth control

Goodhue said 55 million women nationally have taken advantage of no-copay birth control under Obamacare.

She added that other benefits of ACA could vanish, such as giving women more access to pap smears and preventive services. Without Obamacare, insurance companies could reduce coverage by declaring a whole host of conditions pre-existing, including pregnancies, she said.

For many women, the health care program allowed them to get IUDs where otherwise they would be unaffordable.

Planned Parenthood in Florida saw an increase of 517 percent in the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives between 2013 and 2016.

Regionally, Planned Parenthood says the number of patients who had an IUD placement increased and in some cases doubled at eight health centers in South Florida since Trump's upset win in November.

For women worried about paying for birth control under Trump, the IUD offers a long-term solution that could outlast his presidency. The T-shaped intrauterine device is inserted into the uterus and -- depending on the type chosen -- can prevent pregnancy from three to 10 years.

"An IUD is a very effective form of birth control for women," she said. "Not every birth control method is right for every woman."

Suarez was one such woman. In high school, she missed weeks of classes because of severe cramps during her menstruation cycle. The side effects of birth control pills put them out of the question. The IUD was a solution.

Unplanned pregnancies reduced

"I did not vote for Trump. What he is trying to take on now does worry me," she said. "I'm hoping our communities and legislators wake up."

Dr. Maureen Whelihan, an OB-GYN in Greenacres, said she hasn't seen the IUD trend hit her practice, but she said the increase in the use of the devices under Obamacare should be applauded by Trump and his supporters.

"The number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions was down in the last couple years and I really attributed this to the availability of birth control and well-woman visits," she said.

"If the conservative movement says 'We don't want everybody to have this coverage,' the end result will be unintended pregnancies and abortions," the doctor said.

Suarez said she feels that Trump has simply made it harder to be a woman in America.

"I feel I am even more so at a disadvantage now for being a woman," she said. "And, like we've done before, we will have to overcome it -- as women. I am confident that in my community the activism we see now will have a positive result."

___

(c)2017 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)

Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.