This is from Jessica Valenti. You should follow her on Twitter and TikTok.
Project 2025 & Abortion
Everything you need to know about Trump’s plan for women
Jessica Valenti
Jul 30
Chances are, you’ve heard about Project 2025. Organized by the Heritage Foundation and created by a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations, this massive document isn’t just a wishlist—it’s a road map for another Donald Trump presidency.
The brief was written by some of the most powerful conservative thinkers and activists in the country, two-thirds of whom served under the Trump administration. Essentially, the world’s worst people got together to draft a detailed plan for creating their vision of a right-wing utopia—or dystopia.
As Vox wrote, Project 2025 isn’t “a pie-in-the-sky policy agenda full of bold but empty promises..it is crafted to be a list of things the next president’s appointees really can do.” That’s why Trump has been trying to distance himself from the document; he doesn’t want voters to see just how radical his team’s plan for America really is.
As you might guess, that plan has a lot to say about our rights—much of it explicit, some of it more hidden. So, I thought you could use an explainer on what Project 2025 says about abortion and what it means for women more broadly.
For ease of reading, I’ve included a brief summary below, and you can skip ahead to the topics you’re most interested in:
Project 2025 Summary
If enacted, Project 2025 wouldn’t just ban abortion. It’s a step-by-step plan on how the government can force American women out of public life and back into the home.In addition to repealing FDA approval for abortion medication and criminalizing the shipping of abortion pills and supplies, Project 2025 also calls for a Trump presidency to redefine emergency contraception as an ‘abortifacient” (they call it the “week after” pill), permit hospitals to deny women life-saving abortions, ban funding for groups that help women leave anti-abortion states, and allow extremists to harass clinic patients and providers without fear of consequences.
These are mostly policies and tactics we’ve heard about before and watched take hold since Dobbs. Republicans have been open, for example, about wanting to dismantle the FACE Act, which protects abortion clinics and patients from violence and harassment. They’ve also openly targeted EMTALA, fighting for the power to deny patients life-saving abortions.
But Project 2025’s disturbing vision for American women becomes even clearer when you start to connect the less explicit dots. That’s when you see how another Trump presidency could mean the end of women’s freedom as we know it.
Project 2025 calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to become the “Department for Life.” Under this new name, the government would track women’s pregnancies, including abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths; dismantle sex education; replace birth control programs with “fertility awareness” and marriage promotion programs; allow employers to refuse birth control coverage; allow healthcare providers and pharmacists to refuse to dispense medication they morally oppose; and divert child care funding into programs that push women to stay at home.
If you had any doubts about the intent of this document, consider the who’s who of Project 2025 contributors. There’s Stephen Billy, for example, from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Leaked audio from a 2022 strategy session with Tennessee lawmakers caught Billy advising Republicans on when and how to ban birth control and IVF. Another contributor, Russ Vought, was the policy director for the GOP platform writing committee and someone Students for Life once called, “Trump’s most pro-life cabinet member.” I could go on.
If all of this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. What makes Project 2025 so insidious is that any one recommendation may not raise red flags to everyday voters. For example, calling on the federal government to “prioritize funding for home-based childcare, not universal day care,” probably won’t sound so terrible to someone who would like extra support to be able to stay home with their toddler. But when you read that language in the context of the rest of the document—which calls for the end of birth control and women’s ability to get life-saving care—a much more nefarious picture emerges.
Let’s dig into it bit by bit.
How Project 2025 Impacts Abortion
Project 2025 has a very detailed plan to end abortion in the U.S. It’s not a coincidence that they want to rename the Department of Health and Human Services the “Department for Life.” That’s how big the groups behind this document see the federal government’s role in ending women’s reproductive rights.End of Abortion Medication: Project 2025 describes abortion medication as the “single greatest threat to unborn children in a post-Roe world,” and plans for a Trump administration FDA to reverse its approval. While that process is underway, the document wants the agency to immediately restore requirements that the medication only be used up until seven weeks of pregnancy and that it only be dispensed in-person, “to eliminate dangerous tele-abortion and abortion-by-mail distribution.”
Comstock Act: Criminalizing the mailing of abortion medication is a significant focus. Indeed, law professor Mary Ziegler told Abortion, Every Day that the Comstock Act “is the centerpiece of Project 2025.” And while the document doesn’t cite the Comstock Act by name, it refers to and links to the zombie obscenity law several times in the document, calling for the end of “mail-order abortions.”
Given that conservatives define certain kinds of birth control as abortifacients, it’s safe to assume those would be targeted as well. Comstock would even criminalize the shipping of abortion supplies—anything used in an abortion would be in danger.
Under the Radar: Project 2025 doesn’t only call for the criminalization of mailing abortion medication but also the “interstate carriage of abortion drugs.” That means they want to criminalize anyone who transports abortion pills from one state to another in any way. In their America, someone who drives abortion medication just a few miles across a border is a ‘drug trafficker.’
How Project 2025 Restricts Birth Control
Feminists have been warning about conservatives’ attacks on birth control for decades, and Project 2025 makes clear that all those fears were well-founded.Emergency Contraception: Project 2025 redefines emergency contraception as an abortifacient, calling it the “week-after-pill.” The idea is to make emergency contraception—commonly known as the morning-after pill—seem less like birth control. This tactic is one conservatives have been laying the groundwork for over years, one we’ve covered often at Abortion, Every Day:
The rest of this nightmare vision at the link above.
Being “fast” in the 90’s
🤣🤣🤣🤣
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRotWhB2/
Malcolm P. Johnson (@admiralmpj) posted at 8:45 PM on Sun, Aug 04, 2024:
Hey, Republicans…
“Republicans for Harris” and people like @OliviaTroye aren’t supporting Harris because they’ve turned Liberal.
They’re voting for Harris because they want to be able to vote for a Republican again in the future.
That doesn’t happen if Trump wins.
(https://x.com/admiralmpj/status/1820274844828905683?t=yHHQAzrJwE5EK60OM0SXTA&s=03)
Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) posted at 6:47 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Fine dining in Paris 😭🍝🐌 wit @MarthaStewart !! Come thru #followthedogg https://t.co/e34ew8ZHqr
(https://x.com/SnoopDogg/status/1820426459090969011?s=03)
clap clap clap
Propane Jane™ 🔥💣 (@docrocktex26) posted at 1:04 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Sure, let’s have that conversation, Usha. What are the GOP’s TOP 5 policies that would make life easier for parents/children? And I mean policies with proven outcomes in practice. If that’s what the GOP truly wants so badly for parents & kids, why do they vote against Dem policy? https://t.co/7QyeuVm13K
(https://x.com/docrocktex26/status/1820521218484977901?t=pNL_LywT1AWqQ5aP-dxc9w&s=03)
BK (@BradKutner) posted at 10:00 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
NEW from me: @GlennYoungkin says Virginia’s over 140,000 civilian federal employeeshave little to fear if former President Donald Trump’s promise to fire many of them comes true. #valeg
@ssurovell @ryanmcdougle
https://t.co/B2MQi5kFF8
(https://x.com/BradKutner/status/1820474944494686628?s=03)
Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) posted at 0:07 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
BREAKING: Remember when the police raided that tiny newspaper in Kansas? They’re about to be indicted for it. https://t.co/lztk98286V
(https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1820507018236702770?t=AXV2zBhIMyQj3wBDAEB2jQ&s=03)
Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) posted at 1:23 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Republicans in Georgia want to make it harder to vote and easier for Trump to cheat this November. Their latest scheme — a taxpayer website where people can cancel voter registrations.
I explain.
https://t.co/afz2Co2iqB
(https://x.com/marceelias/status/1820525989128278492?s=03)
Gina Chiles (@gina_chiles) posted at 11:42 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
😭😭😭😭 🥉. The sound…the ROAR of the crowd…when @ChilesJordan score was updated will forever be etched in my heart. CAN’T. STOP. CRYING. Her reaction. Cecile’s reaction. Her Team’s reaction. Our reaction. Merci Paris! PS- that podium is 🔥!!
(https://x.com/gina_chiles/status/1820500601161252906?t=0BrPEStcizSJ-I0q9IL0dQ&s=03)
Rebecca Nagle (@rebeccanagle) posted at 9:01 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
If Minnesota governor Tim Walz became vice president, it would make history, but in a way people might not be thinking about. Lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan would become the first Native woman to hold the office of governor in the history of the United States.
(https://x.com/rebeccanagle/status/1820460045609353287?s=03)
Pesach Lattin (@pesach_lattin) posted at 11:26 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Under Trump, the DJIA crashed to 19,000
Under Biden it’s 40,000
That’s not a small difference.
That’s $7 Trillion difference in VALUE.
$7 TRILLION
Stop pretending that Biden-Harris economy is anywhere near as bad it was under Trump.
Numbers don’t lie.
(https://x.com/pesach_lattin/status/1820496710885642283?s=03)
Veronica McDonald🗣 (@Purify_toast17) posted at 1:40 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
So Trump can explode the debt and saddle us with more inflation?
(https://x.com/Purify_toast17/status/1820530249899360340?t=RK9R5tvu-P7pEfd0JoCJpw&s=03)
Robert Reich (@RBReich) posted at 1:40 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Trump never divested from his businesses when he became president.
Forbes now estimates that he earned $550 million during his time in office.
A huge chunk of that came from foreign investors and governments.
Whose payroll will he be on if he gets back in the White House?
(https://x.com/RBReich/status/1820530238369017911?s=03)
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) posted at 3:05 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
BREAKING: Jenna Ellis has flipped.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes reached a cooperation agreement with ex-Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis in the state’s fake electors case.
Mayes has agreed to drop the charges against Ellis in exchange for her cooperation with the prosecution.
(https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1820551615650169296?t=3tZvyOT1pF_qiGeb3–LOw&s=03)
Leaundra Ross 🪷💙💚🏈⚾️ (@LeaundraRoss) posted at 8:05 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
I’m going to keep telling y’all who she clerked for and you will get it.
John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh.
Sometimes the wife is just as horrible as the husband.
Everyone always wants to make excuses for them.
Nah, she’s not a good person either.
(https://x.com/LeaundraRoss/status/1820446025699520705?t=-DhUD221X10n_GPaEDveOA&s=03)
Hope 🦬💙❤️ (@HopeisaBison) posted at 10:39 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Trump led the reversal of 70+ environmental regulations, mismanaged a pandemic that disproportionately killed Black kids and caused a 41% decline in Black businesses, and prompted attacks on equity programs and reproductive justice, yet corny mfs still talking about both sides.
(https://x.com/HopeisaBison/status/1820484711799791855?t=X7tpb6CHwCIr4nxJmjDjcQ&s=03)
🪷 Madam Auntie VP Kamala Harris for PRESIDENT! (@flywithkamala) posted at 7:08 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
James Carville thinks Kamala Harris should accept debate against Trump on FOX News.
David Axelrod believes Kamala Harris’ campaign is depending on “irrational exuberance.”
These two dudes are very out of touch.
(https://x.com/flywithkamala/status/1820431648758038938?t=FnW37StxhBYgkqMZFDQ6gQ&s=03)
DFW Sports 4Life (@Kennymack1971) posted at 9:20 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Look, this ain’t 2016. You ratfucking leftists have zero intentions of supporting VP Harris no matter who she selects for her running mate. You’re going to help try to get Trump back in the WH anyway. Fuck off.
(https://x.com/Kennymack1971/status/1820464998835175812?t=JA4B1TOyeI0qMMhjOVDE9w&s=03)
Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) posted at 10:17 AM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Trump’s racist attacks are part of a larger unhinged plan‼️
Rolling Stone sources report that the race-based attacks on Kamala Harris we’re seeing from Trump are not a case of him going rogue. It’s a campaign strategy that he and Republicans are convinced will work.
The flaw? Trump already has the support of racists locked down, so he isn’t going to win new supporters with that strategy. However, he might lose a few. https://t.co/Y8QLXQFDRF
(https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1820479334878183924?t=ahl1O961cBi6xqAHk52PFw&s=03)
Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) posted at 0:10 PM on Mon, Aug 05, 2024:
Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places 🫠 but never with my kids. Always a first. 🙄#Olympic2024 https://t.co/lEGJR5WoEn
(https://x.com/serenawilliams/status/1820507655250850058?t=3BS71lu7p6jZfdFEz4CCYw&s=03)
Good Morning, Everyone 😊😊😊