The Trump administration, dominated by religious anti-abortion conservatives and reeling in money from a new wave of pronatalist tech reactionaries, has long been considering ways to persuade, pressure and cajole women into having more babies. The Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade in 2022, in which Donald Trump’s three first-term supreme court appointees cast decisive votes, was a first step; later, after he returned to office, Trump reportedly fielded proposals for $5,000 “baby bonuses” – not quite enough to raise a child, one notices – and “motherhood medals” for fertile women that are similar to awards dispensed by the Nazi regime.
Now, it’s seeking out a new tactic: removing birth control access. This month, the Trump administration renewed its attacks on Title X, the federal reproductive health program that provides birth control to an estimated 2 million low-income Americans. In the White House’s proposed budget, funding for the program was eliminated altogether. Then, the Title X administrators at the Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidance to the program’s partner providers, the clinics and medical practices that actually dispense the medication and care. The program was changing, the providers were told. For decades, Title X had been a contraception program. Now, it was going to be reimagined as a pro-conception one.
