In debate, when Republicans ask what rights Donald Trump threatens, Democrats often anchor themselves to abortion. However, Trump and fellow Republicans put substantially more freedoms at risk. The list is extensive and growing, and you will also find intersections between many of these.
- Women’s healthcare. Often dubbed as the “War on women,” this includes policies impacting abortion access, IVF, birth control, women’s necessities, and cuts to Planned Parenthood funding.
- General healthcare. The potential repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act and opposition against modern health science, such as vaccines, threatens healthcare as a whole, impacting a wide breadth of medicine and research.
- Access to a healthy, regulated environment. Distrust of science, removal of the EPA, and continued defunding and views against renewable energy threaten the air we breathe, all the way to the food we eat.
- Science and information. Denouncing modern science as conspiracy, reducing library funding, instilling book bans, and stifling prominent scientists. Promoting science deniers such as Robert Kennedy Jr. to prime positions exacerbates this.
- Public education. Labeling education as “indoctrination” coupled with proposals to remove the Department of Education. This sets a potential snowball effect as it oversees a long list of accommodations and protections: free school lunch, federal aid and FAFSA, special education, and teaching and curriculum standards, as well as encouraging charters and private schools doctrine to take over public school institutions. There will also be the removal of several university programs of study. Trump has also called for a radical ten-point plan, though it’s not clear how it will be enforced without a DOE.
- Access to safe, healthy travel. Prioritizing car-centric infrastructure while attacking safer and healthier alternatives like 15-minute cities, public transit, and non-car alternatives.
- Ability to protest and journalism. Trump alluded to this by stating that left-leaning protestors and journalists are enemies within.
- Safe refuge and neighborhoods. Shortly after Trump won, many incidents occurred against women and minorities. Republicans fueled this mindset through scare-tactic rhetoric and policies (anti-immigration, pro-police initiatives, attacks on women’s healthcare and LGBTQ communities, banning diversity, equity, and inclusive efforts (DEI), and more).
- Religious freedom. Much has been documented of Trump’s forwarding of Christian nationalism, including in a speech where he stated Christians wouldn’t have to vote anymore if he were elected.
- Marriage and relationships. There have been calls to ban no-fault divorce, and after the abortion ban, LGBTQ and interracial marriage have been put on the table.