Is reproductive care at risk in SLO County? ‘Uncertainty, fear’ after Trump’s reelection
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How will a second Trump term impact SLO County?
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Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of stories in the lead-up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed at exploring how a second Trump administration could impact SLO County, with coverage spanning key policy areas such as immigration, tariffs, education and more.
Planned Parenthood only has one facility in all of San Luis Obispo County.
The result is “a busy health center” here in San Luis Obispo, said Luz Reyes-Martín, the vice president of advocacy and engagement for Planned Parenthood California Central Coast.
SLO County’s single center is one of six Planned Parenthoods on the Central Coast providing free or low-cost access to sexual health care. Throughout the year, the centers serve nearly 30,000 patients, according to Reyes-Martín.
“We really are kind of a safety net health care provider for marginalized populations on the Central Coast, for women, for students,” she said.
Besides the single SLO County spot, the next nearest clinic offering free or low-cost abortion care is in Santa Maria.
Now, ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, the nonprofit is preparing for the new administration’s possible repercussions on reproductive health.
The president-elect has said he would veto a national abortion ban if it came across his desk, but it remains to be seen whether more abortion bans or hits to reproductive care could arise in the next four years.
“There is still some uncertainty about what actions a new administration will take,” she said. “First and foremost, our doors are open. We are going to continue to care for patients on the Central Coast.”
President-elect Trump’s position on abortion
Trump has flip-flopped on his position regarding abortion for the past 25 years.
During his first four years in office, he advocated for a 20-week national abortion ban and appointed three justices to the Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
However most recently, in an October post on X, he vowed to oppose a national ban on abortion.
“Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters,” he wrote in an all-caps message.
Then, on his first day in office Monday, the government website reproductiverights.gov went dark.
The site, which provided information on access to abortion and reproductive health care and a Know-Your-Rights patient fact sheet, appeared to have been taken down on Monday.
Trump has urged states to write legislation or let voters choose at the ballot box whether abortion should be legal at the state level.
So far, 12 states in the U.S. have abortion bans in place, according to KFF’s dashboard.
How is California protecting abortion access?
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, California has enacted several laws to protect patients’ access to abortion care.
California remains a leader in protecting reproductive rights, California Congressman Jimmy Panetta — who represents northern SLO County — told The Tribune, but reproductive rights are still top of mind for the lawmaker who sits on the Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus.
“It’s critical that we keep pushing forward with policies that ensure every woman, regardless of where they live, has access to the reproductive care they need,” he said.
In Nov. 2022, Californians voted yes on Proposition 1, which enshrines abortion and contraception rights in the state constitution.
The state has also passed bills to keep medical information about abortions private, safeguard Californians when they lose a pregnancy and protect people from civil liability for providing, aiding or receiving an abortion.
Abortion care on the Central Coast
Despite protections at the state level, abortion bans across the country have caused ripples of chaos and fear among Planned Parenthood patients and staff, according to Reyes-Martín.
“What we’ve heard across the board from our supporters on the Central Coast is uncertainty, fear, disappointment (and) a lot of gratitude for what California has done,” she said.
Reyes-Martín said abortion bans across the country have led to an uptick in people coming to the Central Coast from out of state to receive abortion care.
Following abortion bans in Texas and Arizona, patients with connections to the Central Coast began grabbing local appointments, whereas before that “was pretty rare,” she said.
While she could not provide specific data for SLO County, the state’s abortion rate rose to its highest level in a decade in 2023.
California doctors provided more than 178,000 legal abortions in 2023, an increase by about 24,000, or 16%, from 2020, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for access to reproductive care.
To keep up with rising demand on the Central Coast, Planned Parenthood recently hired another full-time physician dedicated to serving SLO County and northern Santa Barbara County, Reyes-Martín said.
Despite the uncertainty that lies ahead in the next four years, she said Planned Parenthood clinics on the Central Coast are fully focused on providing reproductive health care regardless of who is president.
“That kind of constant threat certainly has an impact,” said Reyes-Martín. “But again, I think we have really worked for decades to make sure that our doors stay open and that we can continue providing care.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
