Photo Illustration by Alberto Mier/CNN/Getty Images
June 29, 2024 Story by: Editor
DNC Senior Spokesperson Marcus W. Robinson issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump and his extreme, far-right Project 2025 allies have made it clear that in a second term, they will make America a dangerous and dystopian reality for Black Americans.
The Black community suffered under Trump’s MAGA extremism, and now the looming threat of his Project 2025 plans include a draconian abortion ban that disproportionately affects women of color, ripping away lower prescription drug costs and health care access that has increased insurance rates for Black Americans to a record high, slashing funding for education, and gutting programs that help families make ends meet. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda is just more evidence that in this election, the stakes could not be higher for Black Americans.”
Project 2025 aims to severely restrict Black women’s reproductive health care by enacting a nationwide abortion ban and limiting access to contraception and medication abortion.
Politico reports: “As President, Trump enacted several policies that made it more difficult for people, particularly the working class and the poor, to obtain contraception — from allowing more employers to opt out of birth control coverage in their workers’ health insurance to imposing restrictions on the Title X family planning program that triggered a mass exodus of clinics.”
“Conservative allies want to reimpose those policies and go further if he wins in November. Their ‘Project 2025’ blueprint includes proposals to require coverage of natural family planning methods and remove requirements that insurance cover certain emergency contraception.”
“As part of their 2025 wish list, conservatives want to overhaul which forms of birth control insurance companies must cover for patients at no cost under the Affordable Care Act. For instance, they have drafted plans to allow insurers to drop coverage of the emergency contraceptive pill Ella, which some on the right believe is an abortifacient.”
The Associated Press highlights concerns from women of color advocating for abortion access, noting that restricting access to mifepristone could exacerbate racial health disparities. These advocates argue that people of color and those from marginalized communities face systemic barriers to accessing abortion and other reproductive health care, leading them to rely on methods like medication abortion.
CapitalB underscores the vulnerability of Black women in the current anti-abortion climate. Black women receive about one-third of all abortions in the U.S. and are more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related complications. Additionally, some Republican-led states are targeting in vitro fertilization as part of a broader effort to limit reproductive rights, which could have a significant impact on Black women, who face higher rates of infertility compared to other groups.
Rolling Stone reveals the broader agenda of Project 2025, stating: “Inside the MAGA Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban the Abortion Pill,” noting that GOP operatives have crafted an 887-page blueprint detailing how they intend to govern, with plans to leverage virtually every arm, tool, and agency of the federal government to attack abortion access.
Project 2025 also seeks to extend Trump’s tax cuts, which disproportionately benefit the wealthy and disadvantaged working Black families.
The BBC reports: “[Project 2025] calls for… sweeping tax cuts. … The economic advisers suggest that a second Trump administration should slash corporate and income taxes, abolish the Federal Reserve and even consider a return to gold-backed currency.”
Vox notes: “Trump said this tax break was for small businesses. It’s giving $17 billion to millionaires this year.”
The New York Times found that “White Americans Gain the Most From Trump’s Tax Cuts,” with White Americans receiving nearly 80 percent of the benefits of the individual and business tax cuts, despite earning about 77 percent of total income in the U.S. African Americans, earning 6 percent of the nation’s income, received only about 5 percent of the benefits. Consequently, the average tax cut for a White American household is more than double that for a Black or Latino household.
Project 2025 proposes drastic changes to Medicare and Medicaid, threatening affordable health care access for many.
Rolling Stone highlights plans to “totally privatize Medicare,” with a call to “make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option” for new enrollees.
Politico reports that Republicans in several states are preparing to curtail Medicaid by requiring low-income adults to work for free government health care if Trump wins a second term. This could cut hundreds of thousands of people from the program, exacerbating racial inequality.
CapitalB notes that Project 2025 supports allowing states to impose work requirements on Medicaid, which would disproportionately burden Black Americans due to discrimination in the low-wage job market.
Furthermore, Project 2025 aims to reverse Biden-Harris administration education policies that promote equal opportunity for Black Americans, including student debt relief and Title I Program funding.
CapitalB reports that Project 2025 advocates for rolling back student debt relief efforts, targeting policies that address the disproportionate debt burden faced by Black borrowers.
The Bucks County Beacon reveals that Project 2025 plans to end public education as we know it by converting Title I and IDEA funding into unregulated block grants, potentially undermining support for low-income and special needs students.
Project 2025’s agenda, if implemented, could profoundly impact Black Americans by limiting reproductive rights, exacerbating economic disparities, and reducing access to essential health and education programs. Source: Democrats
