President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would not sign a federal abortion ban, stating he prefers to leave the issue up to the states. But when he takes office in January, Trump’s cabinet will be able to implement sweeping anti-abortion policies and quickly reverse some protections that were put in place under President Joe Biden.
In practically every agency, cabinet secretaries are able to implement the president’s agenda for the employees of that agency and can set federal policies under their jurisdictions. Anti-abortion advocates say having allies in the cabinet will set the tone for abortion policies in the administration.
It is not unusual for agency policies to change when a new administration comes in or for a cabinet secretary to reverse the rules implemented by their predecessor. But Trump’s agency picks could make changes that would have nationwide implications on abortion access. (The Trump transition team did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment on this story.)
Here’s a look at what some of the agencies could do on abortion policy:
Department of Justice
The Justice Department plays a key role in leading litigation efforts and deciding how to enforce federal laws. Trump’s pick of Pam Bondi to be attorney general had anti-abortion advocates cheering, as they see her as a strong ally for their cause.
Conservatives want a Trump-appointed attorney general to enforce the Comstock Act as a national abortion ban. Bondi — who has direct ties to anti-abortion groups and has defended one of Florida’s anti-abortion laws as the state’s former attorney general — could withdraw a 2022 memo issued under the Biden DOJ essentially declining to enforce the law and instead issue new guidance on how federal prosecutors should interpret it.
“Between Bondi standing up for life during her tenure as Attorney General in Florida, and the potential for her to actually enforce the Comstock Act, there’s a great deal for pro-life organizations like [Students for Life Action] to be excited about,” wrote Mattison Brooks, a press specialist for Students for Life.
Bondi will also likely drop lawsuits started by the Biden administration to protect abortion access. Currently there are federal cases in Idaho and Texas over the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, which current Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said protects abortions in emergencies.
The DOJ can also scrap memos that interpret the Hyde Amendment as only prohibiting federal funding from going directly to abortions but allowing money to cover travel costs. Conservatives oppose this reading of the Hyde Amendment because, they argue, it narrows the scope of a statute that prohibits federal funding from going to any abortion-related expense, not just the procedure itself.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a staunch ally of the anti-abortion movement, told NOTUS that he and Bondi talked about “the need to enforce the Hyde Amendment” in a private meeting in early December.
Department of Health and Human Services
The Health Department is where most abortion-related policies originate. It is unclear what anti-abortion policies Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead HHS, would pursue, given he has previously stated he supports Roe v. Wade protections. However, Kennedy is also reportedly open to removing Biden-era abortion rights policies, per Politico, and has told senators that his deputies would all oppose abortion.
Some senators were concerned with Kennedy’s previous abortion stances but were satisfied he would implement an anti-abortion agenda after meeting with him.
Sen. James Lankford, who opposes abortion rights, told reporters that in his meeting, Kennedy “was pretty clear that the first Trump administration HHS was a pro-life entity, and it will be again.”
Similarly, Hawley said on X that Kennedy told him “all of his deputies at HHS would be pro-life.”
As health secretary, Kennedy could rescind the Biden-era guidance on EMTALA protecting abortion access in emergencies. While doing so could impact the federal case currently evaluating if the law does protect abortion, getting rid of it wouldn’t necessarily end the case.
“DOJ sued Idaho arguing that the [state’s] abortion ban violates EMTALA, the statute, not the guidance. So even if the guidance is rescinded, the ban still violates the law,” said Andrew Twinamatsiko, a director of Georgetown Law School’s O’Neill Institute Health Policy and the Law Initiative. “If DOJ refuses to support the statute in court, some states are likely to intervene just like they did in California v. Texas when DOJ said it wouldn’t defend the ACA’s individual mandate.”
HHS could also rescind guidance on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which offers health care for refugees and asylum seekers, to ensure that unaccompanied immigrant minors can access abortion. Conservatives are also urging for the ORR to be moved to the Department of Homeland Security, which would put it under the authority of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick to lead the department and another anti-abortion movement ally.
Trump, his allies and House Republicans also have been plotting to eliminate federal funds for Planned Parenthood and other health centers that provide abortion. In a second Trump administration, it is almost certain that HHS will reinstate a Trump-era policy that banned organizations that gave referrals for abortions from receiving Title X Family Planning Program grants.
Abortion rights advocates are watching the fate of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a pill used in medication abortions. During his third-party presidential run, Kennedy said that he would not eliminate the Biden policy allowing pharmacies to sell and distribute abortion pills but added that he was concerned about the side effects. (Abortion pills are considered highly safe and effective by leading medical organizations.)
However, recently, Hawley said that in a meeting with Kennedy, the HHS secretary nominee said he was “open” to reimposing some restrictions to mifepristone, specifically the requirement that the drug only be accessed in person and not via mail.
Department of State
After Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state, anti-abortion advocates heaped praise on him. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said she had “every confidence he will continue to champion policies that uphold … the right to life.” Similarly, the National Right to Life Committee called Rubio a “pro-life champion.” Throughout his Senate career, Lila Rose of Live Action said, Rubio “has demonstrated a consistent track record of being pro-life and pro-family.”
Under his leadership, the State Department will likely reimplement and expand the so-called Mexico City policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, which requires foreign nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. global health assistance to certify that they have not used their own non-U.S. funds to cover abortion costs or refer people for abortions.
Trump reinstated the policy — first implemented under the Reagan administration — in 2017, with then-State Secretary Rex Tillerson outlining how the statute would be enforced. Biden rescinded the policy in 2021.
Similarly, Trump’s State Department in 2017 also cut funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN agency focused on improving reproductive health care worldwide. The department said at the time that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization,” even though the agency states that it “does not promote abortion” and instead seeks to “eliminate recourse to abortion.” Biden reinstated funding in 2021.
While Rubio has long been a supporter of the Mexico City policy and of cutting funding for the UNFPA, he hasn’t committed to either should he get confirmed.
“Policy is going to be set by the White House, we’ll be there to implement it, but, you know, whatever the president’s direction on that is what we’re going to do,” Rubio told NOTUS.
Department of Defense
Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has made his anti-abortion beliefs clear.
Roe v. Wade “led to the abortion of at least 62 million innocent American babies since 1973,” Hegseth said on Fox News. Calling it a “generational genocide of America’s unborn.”
Under the Biden administration, the Defense Department adopted a policy to cover travel and transportation costs for service members looking to access an abortion. Republicans, conservatives and anti-abortion advocates oppose the measure, and Hegseth called it a “logic of evil” in his book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
“When the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, the Biden administration frothed into a panic and took steps to work around the near forty-year moratorium on government-funded abortions at both the [Department of Veterans Affairs] and the Department of Defense,” Hegseth wrote. “Thank you for serving our country, now we will help you kill your unborn child.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a senator who has long opposed the policy and met with Hegseth in early December, told NOTUS that the nominee “wants to get rid of all the DEI, the gender equity and all this stuff out of the way.”
Hawley seemingly concurred. The Missouri Republican said that in a November meeting, Hegseth told him the policy was “outrageous” and that he would “reverse it.”
Department of Veterans Affairs
Trump nominated former Rep. Doug Collins, a staunch anti-abortion advocate, as secretary of veterans affairs. He sponsored and voted for legislation to ban federal funding from being used to cover abortion costs during his time in the House.
The department under Trump is expected to roll back a policy that allows officials to provide access to abortion counseling, as well as abortions in cases of rape, incest and to preserve the health of the patient.
Collins “doesn’t support it,” Tuberville, who met with the former congressman, told NOTUS.
Lankford said that he told Collins the Biden administration “invented” the policy, and Collins, he told NOTUS, “was pretty clear that it was something they’re going to look at immediately.”
Department of Labor
The Labor Department oversees the enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a law that sets minimum standards for employer-provided pensions, health care and benefit plans. Some legal experts argue that it essentially blocks state abortion bans from stopping employers from covering out-of-state abortions in their benefit plans.
Conservatives on Project 2025 are pressuring the Labor Department under Trump to issue guidance or a rule stating that ERISA does not provide such protections.
The Washington Post reported that Trump is considering such a move, as well as rescinding a rule that requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for employees seeking abortions under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS.