Alabama state Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, has pre-filed a bill that would establish a legal right to distribute and use contraceptives.

Coleman said this week that in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s recent win and Republicans gaining control of the House and Senate, she felt it necessary to have legal protections in place for contraception access.

“I used to serve on judiciary when I served in the House before going to the Senate, and I saw a trend,” Coleman said.

“There were some people that were coming to testify on bills where they used the term chemical abortion, and they were talking about the morning after pill.”

“And so now, especially in light of the new president that was elected, and now that we have both the Republican House and Senate that will take office next year, we definitely, no time soon, will have the protections of Roe [v. Wade] reinstated when it comes to abortion access. But there’s still also an attack on contraception. And so, I just want to make sure that I highlight this issue.”

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Immediately following the decision, Alabama enforced a total abortion ban, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, except when the pregnancy poses a serious health risk to the mother.

The law makes performing an abortion a Class A felony. And anyone administering an abortion could face up to 99 years in prison.

“You know folks will say that’s settled law, the Supreme Court has had various cases on contraception,” Coleman said.

“Why are you talking about that now? I’m talking about it now because who in the world would have thought five years ago that Roe v. Wade was going to be overturned?”

“You know, we always thought that that was settled law… But yet when the court case came before them, they threw that back to the states. And now because Alabama had a trigger law, we lost abortion access in our state. And so, I want to make sure that we keep our protections for contraception in the state of Alabama.”

Contraception under Trump’s presidency

Trump has had a mixed response to questions about contraception access over the last year.

During an interview with Pittsburgh TV station KDKA-TV in May, Trump was asked if he supports any restrictions on a person’s right to contraceptives.

“Well, we’re looking at that and we’re going to have a policy on that very shortly,” he said.

“And I think it’s something you’ll find interesting and it’s another issue that’s very interesting.”

When asked specifically about restrictions on the morning after pill, Trump replied that “things really do have a lot to do with the states — and some states are going to have different policy than others.”

After receiving public backlash and a call out from President Joe Biden’s campaign team, Trump took to Twitter to clarify his position.

“I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives,” he wrote in a May 21 post.

Doctors say many patients are worried about their access to contraception under another Trump presidency.

During his first term as president, the Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules allowing more employers to opt-out of the Affordable Care Act mandate guaranteeing no-cost contraceptive services for women.

Trump’s election victory could also extend conservative control of the Supreme Court for another two decades.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has previously proposed that Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a Connecticut law that made it illegal to use birth control devices or to advise about their use, should be reconsidered.

“We have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents,” Thomas wrote in reference to the Griswold opinion and others in a solo concurring opinion when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.