Reproductive Fears: With former president Donald Trump's re-election, female students worry their rights to abortion and health care will be limited

Since age 10, freshman Elena Hull has been sifting through presidential interviews, going on campaign deep dives and talking to others to determine her own stance on politics. 

Many of her family members support Donald Trump, but after he announced his campaign for the 2024 election she started to dig into her research. 

“Of course, I agree with my parents, but I didn't want to be somebody who just relied on what their parents said because I didn't feel viable,” Hull said. “Everybody has their own opinion, so I went and did my own research and I realized how complex all the issues are.”

She knew the Harris-Trump election would be close and on Nov. 5, she didn't know how it would go. She had studied Trump’s policies up and down, knowing the risks for women’s health care in the next four years if he was elected. She was scared knowing women would have little choice in abortion healthcare even in the case of sexual assault. 

But she wasn't just thinking about herself, she was worried for her two young sisters and friends as well. 

“What if somebody got to my little sister, if somebody got to my friends,” Hull said. “I wouldn't want them to be in that situation, because that'd be so hard for anybody.”

Following the 2024 election of former president Donald Trump, female East students including Hull are discouraged by what their futures could look like with the Trump administration’s policies and connection to Project 2025.

Project 2025 is a movement created by over 100 conservative organizations to “return the government to the people,” according to their website. However, a main concern for Hull and other East girls is the plan’s stance on abortion. 

The Project 2025 document states the plan will prohibit Planned Parenthood and other government-funded abortion clinics from receiving federal funds. This will make safe abortion procedures for those on Medicaid more difficult to achieve. 

“I’m terrified,” junior Brooks Hagedorn said. “[Project 2025] is now just a plan, but it's concerning to me. Where is it going to draw the line?”

Planned Parenthood strives to provide health care services no matter what according to their mission statement. They plan to ensure everyone in the community has high-quality affordable care. 

Last year, under the Biden Administration, Planned Parenthood got nearly half its total revenues from government reimbursements or grants. 

“I'm able to get pregnant, and if in the future I ever need abortion access, or just overall healthcare with getting pregnant, that may not be an option,” sophomore Storm Vontz said. “Those are very important healthcare options those necessary options are being taken away.”

While Vontz doesn’t necessarily like the idea of abortion, she says it is a necessary health procedure when the mother’s health is in jeopardy. She fears that if this crucial care is taken away, complications in pregnancies could be a lot more dangerous. 

The accessibility of miscarriage care is something sophomore Mira Mcinnes is worried will diminish with the policies Trump will possibly enact regarding Project 2025.  

However, in various interviews, Trump has said he is not affiliated with Project 2025 and its abortion stance. But, to prepare for his upcoming term, Trump has been actively proposing cabinet members — most of which are supporters of Project 2025 based on a New York Times analysis.

The analysis found at least 144 of the 267 contributors to Project 2025 that have either worked on Trump’s administration during his first term in office, his 2024 presidential campaign or are a part of his cabinet as he looks to assume office in January 2025.

“Trump can say as much as he wants that he's he personally isn't associated with [Project 2025], but everyone in his cabinet is,” McInnes said. “It's pretty clear that even if he constitutionally can't do everything that [Project 2025] says, he's definitely gonna take a step in that direction.”