2025 Was a Year of Chaos for Reproductive Rights Under the Trump Administration

"With a decidedly anti-choice Trump administration taking office at its start, 2025 was poised to be yet another brutal year for abortion rights. Advocates feared the imminent resurgence of the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that made it a criminal offense to share contraceptives, abortifacients, and information about either across state lines or through the mail. As of now, the last month of this very difficult political year, that is yet to happen."

"It feels disingenuous (and dehumanizing, I would argue) to tally "wins" and "losses" for something as fundamental to our personhood as the right to an abortion. But in a year like this, it's impossible. The only narrative for abortion that emerges from this bizarre and horrifying year appears to be chaos. Chaos can feel haphazard by nature. But it can also be leveraged strategically, a means of catching the opposition off guard and rendering them incapable of responding with any certainty."

"While Project 2025, the playbook for this hostile and authoritarian administration, does contain specific provisions on how to limit and even ban abortion, many of those haven't happened yet. That seems odd, considering that half of Project 2025 has already been completed, according to trackers. But perhaps, like abortion opponents have done for decades, the Trump administration is now playing the long game."

With a decidedly anti-choice Trump administration taking office, 2025 was expected to intensify threats to abortion rights, including potential revival of the 1873 Comstock Act criminalizing dissemination of contraceptives, abortifacients, and related information across state lines or by mail. Despite fears, such sweeping federal measures have not materialized by year-end. The political environment is chaotic yet may be intentionally strategic, as Project 2025 contains provisions to limit or ban abortion though many measures remain unimplemented. Immediate national bans are politically risky given that nearly two-thirds of Americans support legal abortion in all or most cases, making medication abortion the central political battleground.

Read at Truthout