Spike In Women Seeking Long-Term Birth Control As ACA Comes Under Attack

DETROIT (WWJ) - As the nation waits to see the Republican plan to revamp the Affordable Care Act, there's been a run on women seeking birth control in metro Detroit.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan spokeswoman Ruth Lednicer says requests for IUDs, which last at least four years are up more than 35 percent in metro Detroit, and over 72 percent at the office in Ferndale alone.

"We don't know what's going to happen yet," says Lednicer. "But we are certainly bracing for the notion that accessibility to birth control could really be curtailed."

President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of repealing the ACA and Lednicer says that woman are voicing concerns and acting ahead of any decision to dismantle the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

"That either access to birth control was going to be limited or with the ACA being taken away -- the co-pay the requirement that there be no co-pay would be taken away, so they would have to have more ability to pay for it and long-acting contraception can be quite pricey," said Lednicer.

Without insurance, IUDs can cost up to $1,000. The wait at the Ferndale office is currently two weeks.