According to its own website, "Project 2025 is the effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in January 2025." During the campaign, Trump distanced himself from the Heritage Foundation's project, but he has since chosen multiple authors for roles in his administration. At over 900 pages long, Project 2025 has a lot to say... we pulled some of the most notable pieces surrounding women's health.

On Medication Abortion
Project 2025 lays out several strategies for limiting access to mifepristone, one of the pills used in a medication abortion. Mifepristone and misoprostol together are known as the “abortion pill.” Over two-thirds of abortions in the US are medication abortions and use mifepristone. Limiting access to mifepristone could make it extremely challenging to access abortion in states with bans.

One proposal includes requiring in-person dispensing of the drug, effectively cutting off access for people relying on telehealth or online services, especially in states with abortion bans or limited clinic availability. Another strategy is pressuring the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone, which would remove it from the market. 

These measures could drastically reduce accessibility to medication abortion, a method that has become a critical option for many due to its safety and convenience. If these policies are implemented, they would create significant barriers to abortion access, especially for those in rural areas or states with bans.

On RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services
Last month, Trump chose RFK Jr. as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and effectively oversee women’s health. According to the department’s website, “the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.” 

Project 2025 proposes changing the Department of Health and Human Services into the Department of Life. This would include replacing the Reproductive Healthcare Task Force with an anti-abortion task force and creating a position called  “Special Representative for Domestic Women’s Health” to lead anti-abortion policy efforts.

What is RFK Jr.’s stance on abortion? He told an NBC reporter that, “a decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life,” but that “the state has an interest” in restricting abortions after the first trimester and that he would support a federal law banning abortions after that time. His campaign then walked back the statement, claiming he misunderstood and that he supports a woman’s right to choose. 

Since being tapped by Trump to lead HHS, RFK Jr.’s statements about his plans for reform have not been focused on abortion.

On EMTALA
HHS issues guidance regarding the application of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), including how EMTALA applies to situations in which a patient may need emergency abortion care. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the federal government sent guidance to hospitals reminding them of their obligation to provide lifesaving care, even if an abortion was necessary, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). It stated, “When a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life of the pregnant person — or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition — that state law is preempted.” 

However, states like Texas have attacked EMTALA’s use in abortion cases, claiming that the government “cannot enforce a law governing emergency medicine to make sure patients get abortions in cases where their lives are threatened by a pregnancy.” Additionally, Project 2025 calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to dismantle the abortion protections provided under EMTALA. This would have very scary implications for pregnant women suffering from life-threatening conditions.

On Sexual Health
HHS also oversees the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also known as CMS. Project 2025 asks the CMS to encourage states to remove Planned Parenthood from state Medicaid programs and create a regulation that would disqualify all abortion providers. 

Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of sexual healthcare services both in the US and globally, addressing patient needs regarding STIs, certain cancers, endometriosis, menopause, PCOS, PID, UTIs, vaginal infections, fibroids, and more. It also provides birth control, emergency contraception, condoms, and abortion care. Planned Parenthood is fundamental to so many communities that turn to the organization for necessary healthcare services.

Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients pay for their healthcare through Medicaid. Preventing patients from using Medicaid to access care at a Planned Parenthood clinic prevents those patients–especially women of color and women in rural and medically underserved areas–from accessing any sexual healthcare at all, including life-saving cancer screenings.

On Sex Education
Project 2025 recommends removing all terms related to gender, gender equality, reproductive health, reproductive rights, abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity from all legislation, federal rules, agency regulations, contracts, agency websites and grants. It also wants to redefine sex-ed as “pornography” and  suggests replacing comprehensive sex education with abstinence-only education in schools.

This is concerning for a number of reasons. Changes to this terminology would roll back decades of work towards gender equality. It could also make it harder to enforce anti-discrimination protections, provide inclusive care, and address the safety of marginalized communities.

As for redefining sex-ed as pornography… if teenagers are not equipped with comprehensive sex education, which means understanding consent and how to prevent STIs and pregnancy, then they will not be able to make educated decisions about their health. Studies consistently show that abstinence-only education is less effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies and STIs. In order to decrease the need for abortion, we need MORE sex education, not less.