Health

How Will President-Elect Donald Trump Affect Access To Birth Control?

Trump says he would repeal the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood. That could make birth control a lot more expensive.

How Will President-Elect Donald Trump Affect Access To Birth Control?
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Getting birth control could become a lot harder under a President Donald Trump.

Right now, the Affordable Care Act makes FDA-approved birth control methods free with insurance. But without insurance, birth control could cost up to $600 a year.

SEE MORE: Trump's Victory Has Some Women Considering IUDs

Planned Parenthood serves nearly 5 million people a year in the U.S. About 80 percent of them use Planned Parenthood for affordable pregnancy prevention.

Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood — moves several members of Congress already support.

But without the Affordable Care Act or Planned Parenthood, birth control could become a lot more expensive and a lot more difficult to get.

Trump has said he would support making birth control available without a prescription, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says could make birth control more accessible to the general population.

That could make birth control easier to get, but it still leaves a question of cost. And many women are now searching for birth control methods that will outlast Trump's presidency.