Women’s health providers are reporting a major surge in emergency contraception, birth control and medication abortion sales since the election last week.
Donald Trump's victory, along with the Republican Party taking the Senate, will make abortion rights more vulnerable. Though Trump had previously said that abortion is an issue for the states, not the federal government, more recently he has not ruled out leaning on the FDA to revoke its approval of the medication abortion pill mifepristone.
Though almost surely to be challenged in court—given more than half of abortions in the U.S. are done via medication today—the move would be consequential. Even where the legal implications for providing a healthcare service are unclear, fear of prosecution alone has been enough to deter providers. Trump has also flip-flopped on whether he would attempt to restrict access to birth control, and reproductive rights advocates are worried.
Though providers also saw a jump in reproductive health care sales following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, many say the latest numbers exceed that. Monica Cepak, CEO of sexual and reproductive care provider Wisp, told Fierce Healthcare the company had its biggest revenue day on the day after the election.
“Women are rightfully scared and nervous about what the future of women’s health looks like, but as a brand we are investing in making sure we’re there for our patients in this critical time of need,” Cepak said in an interview.
Among tens of thousands of members, Wisp saw a nearly 1,000% spike in emergency contraception sales from Nov. 5 through the morning of Nov. 7. During that same period, it also saw new patient sales rise 1,650%, while birth control sales were up 50%.
Orders for medication abortion climbed 600% during the same period. Currently, the laws around abortion pills are state-specific. Wisp only provides medication abortion services in nine states today.
Buying multiples of Plan B was a popular choice among consumers, with six-packs making up nearly 60% of all Wisp’s emergency contraception sales. Multipacks of Plan B overall, typically a quarter of those sales, made up 92%, with the remaining sales for another morning-after pill, Ella. While Plan B is available over-the-counter, getting a prescription with insurance could cut the cost for patients. Ella, meanwhile, requires a prescription.
Wisp offers three-packs and six-packs of Plan B, which it introduced in June. Though Plan B is safe, effective and has a long shelf-life, a number of factors have complicated access. In the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, pharmacies including Rite Aid and CVS have placed limits on how many pills customers could purchase. It has also been stigmatized by some Republican lawmakers who have inaccurately conflated it with abortion.
“They're really stocking up to have on hand in the event that the landscape changes,” Cepak said. “There’s no judgment. We’re providing the necessary healthcare to women.”
In addition, about 10% of Wisp patients today are in reproductive care deserts, Cepak said, and the company expects to focus on serving those areas in 2025. Wisp, which is cash-pay only, works with several pharmacy partners to deliver medications to patients’ homes. Alternatively, patients can pick up a prescription in person at a pharmacy of their choice.
Policy changes immediately influencing consumer behaviors is something healthcare companies have seen before. Winx Health, a sexual health provider, saw a 537% increase in sales in the five weeks after abortion measures were added to ballots in 10 states this past August. Abortion rights won in seven of those states.
The team behind Aid Access, a global nonprofit providing medication abortion, told The Guardian last week they had been preparing for this moment since the last Trump administration. The organization relies on physicians in states where abortion is legal to prescribe and ship pills to patients in states where abortion is not. After the election was called for Trump, Aid Access got more than 5,000 requests for abortion pills in less than 12 hours. This was a surge greater than the day after Roe v. Wade was overturned, The Guardian reported, and five times the demand of an average day.
In the 60 hours after Tuesday’s late election results, Winx sold seven times more doses of its morning-after pill compared to the same period the previous week, or a 966% jump, the company told Fierce Healthcare. Similar to Wisp, value packs of the pill made up three-quarters of these purchases, a 25% increase from typical sales patterns.
“At Winx Health, we want women to know that despite the results of this election, we as women still have options,” Jamie Norwood, co-founder of Winx, told Fierce Healthcare in a statement. “It’s important for young people to know that emergency contraception is legal in all 50 states, and anyone of any age can purchase it.”
Last Wednesday, Cadence OTC, which makes its own morning-after pill, saw a 70% increase in web traffic and five times the weekly average amount of orders in one day. Since the election, it has donated $80,000 worth of products to universities in states with restricted reproductive health care, including Ohio, Iowa and Texas. Co-founder Samantha Miller told Fierce Healthcare in a statement that she expects demand for an affordable morning-after pill to grow in the next four years. Cadence OTC also expects to grow its convenience store count next year and to continue donating its products, she added.
"Our mission remains clear and unwavering—to reduce cost and increase access to contraceptive care for women. We know that this can have a profound impact on women’s lives and it’s a commitment we steadfastly uphold," Miller said.
Female-focused virtual care company Nurx saw a 400% spike in daily patient requests for prescription Ella on Nov. 6 as well as a 600% increase in Plan B. This was the highest daily volume since Roe v. Wade was overturned. It also saw a 100% increase in birth control requests on the same day.
“At Nurx, we see patients react to pivotal moments impacting reproductive care with increased interest in and purchases of emergency contraception and birth control,” Rajani Rao, senior vice president of Nurx, told Fierce Healthcare. “Volumes remain very high [on Thursday]. All providers are working extremely hard to ensure every patient is heard and cared for.”
A 2024 Nurx survey that reached more than 1,000 respondents found more than half of women were feeling anxious about the political environment's influence on their reproductive and sexual freedoms. Half were anxious about accessing in-person care for those needs. A third of those in states where abortion is not protected had considered changes to where they live or work. The respondents included Nurx patients and individuals from the general population.
On Nov. 6, New York City-based Hey Jane, another virtual provider, saw a 27% increase in medication abortion orders, a 25% increase in birth control orders and a 123% increase in EC orders compared to the prior month’s average.
Kiki Freedman, co-founder and CEO, told Fierce Healthcare that though most Americans support reproductive rights, not all of the election results reflected that.
“While we are incredibly disappointed, we want to be clear: People can still access abortion care with Hey Jane,” Freedman said. “Despite the obstacles ahead, our team is confident that we can utilize technology, telemedicine, and community to ensure that individuals can continue to get care with Hey Jane, regardless of political climate.” Hey Jane is available in 20 states and Washington, D.C.