Local abortion funds are the experts

Keith Preston

2 years ago

Repro Nation Monthly | August 2024

Abortion is on the ballot

Hello Repro Nation readers!

With the election less than 80 days away, two more states certified abortion measures to appear on the November ballot: Missouri and Arizona. That brings the total number of states with confirmed abortion ballot measures to eight. We are also waiting to hear from Nebraska and Montana about their measures. Should all of the submitted abortion ballot measures qualify, we will see voters across the Heartland have the opportunity to codify protections for abortion rights in their state constitutions. And as we know from previous elections, abortion is a winning issue.

But even with state ballot measures promising expanded legal rights, there remains a healthcare crisis lurking under the surface, as the Associated Press reported this month. Doctors working in emergency departments in hospitals across the country—in states with or without bans—are putting pregnant patients at serious risk by sending patients home who are actively in labor, which jeopardizes the patient’s and their fetus’s health, or by denying needed abortion care for fear of criminalization. “Nursing and doctor shortages, trouble staffing ultrasounds around-the-clock, and new abortion laws are making the emergency room a dangerous place for pregnant women, warned Dara Kass, an emergency medicine doctor and former U.S. Health and Human Services official,” reported AP.

“It is increasingly less safe to be pregnant and seeking emergency care in an emergency department,” Kass said.

It is undeniable that the anti-abortion movement has made our healthcare systems worse, from closing community clinics to defunding organizations like Planned Parenthood that offer a range of preventive care services. And all of that was happening before the Dobbs decision. But since the decision, patients and advocates are filing more and more lawsuits to shine a light on the way Dobbs is undermining medical care. As we fight to expand access through all possible means, these cases are important to highlight, as the Democratic National Convention did on Monday night. And it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, we all deserve abortion access no matter the reason. This is the message, in particular, we hope to hear throughout the week in Chicago as Democratic officials convene to celebrate the party’s presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Read on to learn more about the groups fighting to preserve access in their local communities.

In Solidarity,

Regina Mahone

Senior Editor

EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea Williams-Diggs on the Work of Local Abortion Funds—and How You Can Help

Regina Mahone: Please explain to Repro Nation readers how the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) supports people in accessing abortions.

Chelsea Williams-Diggs: NYAAF is New York’s only statewide local abortion fund, and we directly support abortion seekers to access abortions through financial assistance and case management. What that means is we move funds on their behalf directly to abortion clinics and providers, and we also help them navigate this very confusing, intentionally confusing, often harmful system, and make sure that folks both living in and traveling to New York are able to access care in our state.

RM: What has been the most obvious shift you’ve witnessed in working at an abortion fund since the Dobbs decision in June 2022?

CWD: I think most people understand that abortion funds have seen a growth in callers, so that is the most obvious. What I think is maybe less obvious is that we’ve also seen growth in the amount of need that each caller needs. So right now NYAAF’s average pledge is about $1,000—it was much less before the Dobbs decision. And then, also, the complexity: getting people from a banned state to an “access” state, navigating these really complex systems, and just seeing how more complicated they’re getting day by day. So it’s more people, more money that they need, and then more support that they need around navigating the complex systems.

And, of course, it’s been really difficult in the ways that funds need to show up. It’s not as simple as just like, Oh, there’s more people who need our help, we need to move more money. It’s all these other things happening on the back end. And most abortion funds are either completely volunteer-led or are very heavily reliant on volunteers. Doing all of this work with volunteers is extremely difficult.

RM: What is it about abortion funds and in particular how they are funded that is often misunderstood?

CWD: I think what’s really interesting about abortion funds is we’ve been grassroots funded. In fact, before the Dobbs decision, NYAAF only had one foundation grant. All of our money was coming from individuals giving $20, $50, and so on and so forth. That’s really the norm for a lot of abortion funds. We heavily rely on our communities to raise funds for their fellow community members and for people traveling to their community. I think that’s really unique and beautiful, but it’s also the root of the issue right now. The level of crisis that we’re navigating cannot be solved by $10 or $20 donations alone; we need larger institutions and systems to step up, and that includes philanthropy and also local and state governments.

And if you don’t already, Chelsea suggests everyone take these three steps today: