Today, I called my gynecologist. 

Like many people everywhere, I woke up with an intense dread the day after election day. I went to bed the night before, feeling incredibly helpless as I watched each state turn red. I watched my home state, Pennsylvania, turn red, and my home city, Philadelphia, performed significantly lower for Kamala than they did for Biden. Even when there were only 300,000 votes left to count, I clung to the small glimmer of hope that those last votes in Pennsylvania would pull through and that Philadelphia would once again save us from another four years of Trump. 

Instead, when I awoke and opened my phone, I was met with the bright red emboldened letters “TRUMP WINS” from the New York Times. The aggressive font represented the overbearing emotions I was feeling. I wish I could spend my day in bed today and contemplate life like I wanted to, but instead, I called my gynecologist. 

I did this because this morning, I was hit with the harsh reality that over seventy-two million people in this country do not care about what happens to my or any other women’s bodies. In three months, we go back in time to June 24, 2022, when our reproductive rights were first attacked. I have learned from last night that although this country claims to hate Donald Trump, they hate women a lot more. 

We live in a country where seventy-two million people have decided that women’s rights are not an issue. A country where the “life” of an unborn child has significantly more value than the life of the living woman. In three months, there is a possibility that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will snowball into a complete national ban on abortion. There are already abortion bans in forty-one states, with complete abortion bans in thirteen of those states. Women’s lives have been significantly affected since the Dobbs decision, with multiple women dying directly from the abortion bans in their states. 

In September, two women in Georgia died from abortion complications because they had to go out of state to receive care. Josseli Barnica, a twenty-eight-year-old mother from Texas, died after being exposed to bacteria when doctors refused to give her an abortion while she was suffering from a life-threatening miscarriage. The doctor’s reasoning for delaying her care was that they were concerned they would face criminal charges. These women suffered due to the criminalisation of those trying to get an abortion as well as those intending to give abortion care. 

In a Trump-run country, abortion will be one of the issues at the forefront of his policies. We have already seen a wave of lawmakers moving towards creating stricter abortion laws in states without complete blown bans, as well as defunding clinics for feminine health and even targeting pregnancy prevention. In Trump’s first presidency, his administration attempted to lessen insurance coverage on contraceptives, and I see no reason why they would not continue to try to do this. On the campaign trail, Trump has attacked pregnancy prevention medication like Planned B with statements that those types of medications are very much up to the states. Furthermore, we have seen Supreme Court judges like Clarence Thomas call for the reconsideration of Griswold v. Connecticut, invalidating a law in Connecticut that prevented contraceptives. 

Due to all of the evidence that has been presented by Trump’s 2024 campaign and his policies in his first presidency, women like me have a reason to be scared. Since the Election on November 5th, 2024, doctors have had an increased number of calls from women asking to get their IUDS replaced or their tubes tied, saying that they want to get it done before Trump’s inauguration in January. Similarly, Times Magazine cited that pharmacies have seen a 966% increase in the sales of emergency contraceptives since the 2024 presidential election.

Trump and his administration pose an enormous threat to the reproductive rights of women in America. Although Trump has explicitly been unclear about his specific views on the matter, we know that the power lies with those he elects, including the possibility of two more conservative Supreme Court justices who would be able to apply significantly more pressure for the reconstruction of the healthcare system when it comes to birth control.

With all of these threats in mind, this is why I called my gynecologist. Although I can hope that most of my worries are just me panicking, I also cannot allow myself to put my own body at risk in a country that appears to have no care for my rights and those around me.