In the second Trump administration, Heritage Foundation scholars are pressing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to order "gold standard" studies and expand informed-consent requirements for oral contraceptives, arguing the pills carry underappreciated health and ecological costs.
The Heritage Foundation—whose Project 2025 blueprint has shaped conservative policy debates—has escalated its critique of hormonal contraception with an Oct. 29 commentary urging HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to commission National Institutes of Health studies and elevate informed consent for the pill. The push comes as Kennedy leads HHS under President Donald Trump’s second term, confirmed by the Senate in February 2025. (heritage.org)
In "RFK Should Grill the Pill," Heritage authors Scott Yenor and Jennifer Galardi contend that oral contraceptives are linked to lower libido, mood disturbances and depression, weight gain, venous thromboembolism, and modestly elevated risks of stroke and heart attack. They describe the pill as "medicated menopause" and argue that suppressing menstruation may alter mate selection and contribute to delayed marriage. The authors say these "costs" should be disclosed more fully through informed-consent policies. (heritage.org)
The same commentary extends an environmental argument, asserting that synthetic ethinyl estradiol from birth control passes through wastewater treatment and can feminize fish—"male fish begin growing female genitals"—with population-level effects. Decades of peer‑reviewed research supports endocrine disruption and intersex characteristics in fish exposed to low parts‑per‑trillion levels of potent estrogens. At the same time, reviews by public‑health authorities indicate that typical concentrations detected in finished drinking water present negligible risk to human health relative to other estrogenic exposures. (heritage.org)
Heritage’s framing echoes a long‑running political strategy in abortion policy: "right‑to‑know" or informed‑consent laws that require providers to present state‑mandated risk information before a procedure. Such requirements proliferated after the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision and in subsequent state laws like North Carolina’s 2011 Women’s Right to Know Act. The new Heritage arguments apply that approach to contraception—urging more expansive counseling and documentation—rather than calling for an outright ban. (en.wikipedia.org)
Policy skirmishes around access continue on other fronts. Conservative lawmakers have pressed for tighter rules on abortion pills, while four Democratic‑led states petitioned the FDA this summer to loosen remaining restrictions on mifepristone. A federal judge in Hawaii recently ordered the FDA to revisit parts of its 2023 risk‑management decision, though current restrictions remain in place during the review. Medication abortion already accounts for a majority of U.S. abortions. (hawley.senate.gov)
Heritage is also aligned with broader conservative efforts to narrow minors’ access to contraception via parental‑involvement requirements. In March 2024, the Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas policy requiring parental consent for minors receiving birth control through Title X clinics, reinforcing a trend toward greater parental control at the state level. Heritage figures have separately criticized moves to expand over‑the‑counter access to contraception. (reuters.com)
Whether HHS will act on Heritage’s pill agenda remains unclear. During his confirmation, Kennedy pledged to "follow the law regarding access to birth control," and senators have urged him to revisit the safety profile of abortion medication. Heritage’s commentary proposes that HHS and NIH undertake comprehensive studies and standardize robust informed‑consent materials for hormonal contraception. (heritage.org)
Advocates for contraception note that today’s pill is not the pill of the late 1960s. Feminist activism and Senate hearings in 1970—sparked by Barbara Seaman’s reporting and protests by Alice Wolfson and others—led the FDA to require patient package inserts for oral contraceptives and accelerated a shift to lower‑dose formulations. IUD safety also improved after the 1970s Dalkon Shield scandal prompted stricter oversight and product redesigns. (en.wikipedia.org)
Finally, while Heritage writers tie hormonal contraception to cultural change—including delayed marriage—demographic research points chiefly to economics. Marriage rates have fallen most among lower‑income and less‑educated Americans, a pattern scholars link to wage stagnation, job loss among men and widening inequality. College‑educated adults remain more likely to marry than their less‑educated peers, even as marriage occurs later in life. (brookings.edu)
