Federal Election Outcomes Will Further Endanger Reproductive Health Access While Voters Support Reproductive Freedom through Ballot Measures

Essential Access Health Reaffirms Commitment to Safeguarding Sexual and Reproductive Health and Calls on States to Act

Los Angeles, CA – In a post-Roe landscape, federal election results further endanger access to sexual and reproductive health care nationally, even as voters acted to protect and restore abortion rights for millions of Americans in their home states. Voters approved abortion rights ballot measures in seven out of ten states where reproductive freedom was directly on the ballot.

“The federal election outcomes pose a direct and undeniable threat to sexual and reproductive health nationwide, as well as to the many freedoms we hold dear. We anticipate the slew of harmful actions will be swift and severe, and extend beyond reproductive rights and justice – putting at risk the safety and dignity of our friends, family, and neighbors. While these challenges are real, we have confronted adversity and stood resolute in the face of uncertainty and we are prepared to hold the line and continue advancing our critical work,” said Amy Moy, Co-CEO of Essential Access Health. “Today is a dark day, but it does not change who we are, what is needed, or the overwhelming public support for reproductive freedom across party lines. We remain steadfast in our mission, keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the North Star of creating a more just and equitable sexual and reproductive health system for all. What is needed now is courage, resilience, and unity. And we are ready. We will work with our partners and call on state leaders to secure the sustained investments and additional protections urgently needed to safeguard access wherever possible.”

“As the leader of the nation’s largest and most diverse Title X federal family planning network for more than fifty years, Essential Access Health will fiercely defend the Title X program. The Project 2025 roadmap is dangerous, and many of the proposed changes to Title X were previously put into practice under the first Trump Administration, decimating the provider network and slashing the number of patients served across the country by more than sixty percent. The harms will be significantly worse in a post-Roe landscape,” said Nomsa Khalfani, PhD, Co-CEO of Essential Access Health. “Every day we see the horrific and inhumane consequences of state abortion bans and the unconscionable harms inflicted on Black, Indigenous, and other women of color, youth, LGBTQIA+ communities, and individuals with low incomes. Hostile federal actions will further escalate our national public health crisis, amidst rising rates of STIs and shocking increases in maternal and infant mortality – underscoring the urgent need to protect the safety net and pathways to care. We have been here before, and just like before, we will do everything in our power to protect and expand options for people to access abortion, birth control, STI prevention and treatment, and other comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Essential Access Health will continue to work day in and day out to ensure protective laws are passed, inequities are made right, and everyone, everywhere can get the essential care they want and need in their local communities.”

Voters approved reproductive freedom ballot measures across the red, purple and blue states of Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York, protecting and restoring abortion rights for millions of Americans. These measures will be particularly important to address the devastating racial and socioeconomic disparities that abortion bans have severely exacerbated. While the measure in Florida fell short of the sixty percent threshold needed for passage, it garnered more than 57% of the vote – a significant majority. With these outcomes, voters once again demonstrated the strong support for reproductive freedom across the United States and made clear that federal actions blocking protections for reproductive health care disregard the will of the people.

In California, Essential Access Health (Essential Access) supported: Prop 3 to protect the fundamental right to marry regardless of gender or race; Prop 35 to secure dedicated funding for Medi-Cal, including for family planning, abortion, and primary care to address our health care crisis; and San Francisco Prop O to further protect reproductive freedom in San Francisco. These measures passed with strong majorities and reflect California’s values of freedom, equity, and justice.

Essential Access has administered Title X in California since the program was established and in Hawai’i since 2022. The organization currently distributes funding to and supports nearly 400 health care delivery sites that include federally qualified health centers, city and county health departments, Planned Parenthood and other stand-alone clinics, collectively serving more than 460,000 people. When the first Trump Administration’s Title X regulations took effect, an estimated 1,000 providers left the network nationally, and the number of Americans served by Title X fell from 3.9 million to 1.5 million. During this time, Essential Access continued to support our network to provide the best care possible under the Trump-era rule while also challenging the most harmful and egregious components of the regulations in court.

Half of all states have enacted bans on abortion care, the daily real-life consequences of which are horrific. Maternal mortality rates are on the rise – especially in states with abortion bans. Black women, nearly 6 in 10 of whom live in states with bans, have been disproportionately impacted and have borne the brunt of racist, unjust and systemic barriers to essential care long before the fall of Roe. 

###

Essential Access Health advances reproductive equity and champions quality sexual and reproductive health care for all through distributing public funding, policy advocacy, research, training and capacity building for the health care workforce, and youth and community empowerment. We work to ensure that everyone, everywhere can get the care they want and need, where and how they need it, with dignity and respect.