Stockpiling abortion pills and protecting same-sex marriage: How states are ‘Trump-proofing’ ahead of possible second term
Democrats across the country have shared plans for how their states are “Trump-proofing” in case the Republican wins back the White House for a second term in November’s election.
From stockpiling abortion medication and rushing to protect same-sex marriage laws to bolstering climate change policies, with less than a month to go, blue states are preparing for their worst-case scenario, The Washington Post reports.
While they say they are confident in Kamala Harris’s chances, the outlet reports that Democratic leaders think it would be “irresponsible” not to prepare for the worst.
Many preparations have been in motion since last year. In Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee authorized the Department of Corrections to use its pharmacy license to order 30,000 doses of the abortion drug mifepristone.
“You just can’t trust [Trump] when it comes to women’s reproductive health," Inslee told Reuters.
Inslee, along with other blue states last year, stockpiled the medication after a lawsuit threatened to limit access to the medication. The challenge was rejected by the Supreme Court in June, but the ruling could risk future legal challenges.
Not taking any chances, Inslee said he would keep the stash – enough to supply the state’s abortion patients for three years – at least until a winner is decided.
Similarly, Massachusetts stockpiled 15,000 of the pills. “The action we are taking today protects access to mifepristone in Massachusetts and protects patients and providers from liability,” Governor Maura Healey said last year, adding to The Post that a Trump presidency “would be disastrous.” California’s Gavin Newsom also stockpiled the drug last year.
Meanwhile, moves have been made to protect same-sex marriage in Colorado, California, and Hawaii. The issue is on the ballot in the three states this November, where voters will get a say on whether language from their state constitutions limiting marriage to a man and a woman should be removed.
Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, told POLITICO it is an effort against any potential rollback of same-sex marriage rights if Trump appoints more far-right judges.
In 2016, Trump said he was “fine” with same-sex marriage. “It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done,” he said. “These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m fine with that.” But Democrats and campaigners were alarmed by Justice Clarence Thomas’s suggestion in 2022 that it should be “reconsidered” in the wake of the decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
Referring to three major precedents that protect same-sex rights, the conservative justice said: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”
Colorado state Representative Brianna Titone told The Post: “We had to really address that issue now while we could. A lot of basic protections people take for granted could be changed by a Trump administration.”
When it comes to climate change, California has been mobilizing to protect the state’s climate policies after a string of threats from Trump, including one to withhold aid to cope with wildfires.
In September the former president was asked a question about how his administration would help Americans struggling with natural disasters, specifically wildfires which have plagued California.
“If [Newsom] doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires. And if we don’t give him all the money to put out the fires, he’s got problems,” Trump said in response, not specifying which papers he was referring to.
Trump has also threatened to again pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to POLITICO last month. He withdrew from the international environmental protocols in 2020 before leaving office before his successor, Joe Biden, signed the US up them again.
Meanwhile, Trump has been accused of telling Big Oil executives that he will waive regulations protecting the US environment in return for them giving him $1bn.
Newsom has stepped up and acted as a negotiator when it comes to climate, pursuing agreements with China, Australia and other nations. This is only likely to increase if Trump takes office, The Post reports.
A Harris campaign spokesperson told The Post that a Trump presidency would “hurt every single American, no matter where they live.” In response, the Trump campaign told the newspaper the Democrats are “fearmongering” and that “Americans will ‘Kamala-proof’ our country” by electing Trump.
Pollster Nate Silver, the founder of the FiveThirtyEight poll, told The Guardian people “should be making their contingency plans, like, right away” in the event of a Trump second term, given how close the polls are.