The Critical Role of Independent Abortion Funds Amid National Funding Cuts

In July, Kayla, who’s using a pseudonym for privacy reasons, called the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF) after weeks of trying to raise funds for an abortion and the travel needed to get to her appointment. She lived in rural Mississippi—a state with a total abortion ban—and had already rescheduled her appointment once to give herself more time to cover the costs. When I connected with her, she was defeated. The national organization that promised funding for her original appointment in June had reduced their contribution by 40 percent, and she didn’t know how she was going to get to Chicago.

I was able to assure her that we could meet her full needs, making sure she had a plane ticket, money for food and child care, and payment for her abortion. This is the kind of flexible, highly individualized support CAF provides every day. While I’m grateful to have supported Kayla as she got her abortion, she should not have had to endure a financial and logistical nightmare to get care—nobody should.

Kayla’s story is the reality for too many people. Without abortion funds, some people never get the care they need. It is an unacceptable and inhumane reality. No one should have to travel across the country for basic, time-sensitive health care, or delay their abortion care because they don’t have enough money to cover the cost.

This summer, three prominent and well-resourced national abortion funds are slashing budgets, and the access landscape—and our callers, like Kayla—are already feeling the impact. In July, the National Abortion Federation and the Justice Fund program at Planned Parenthood announced massive cuts for abortion funding. The Access Fund, a Band-Aid solution in response to the burgeoning crisis after the fall of Roe v. Wade, will be ending on August 31, leaving at least another $1 million monthly hole in the abortion funding landscape nationwide. Independent abortion funds and clinics will be left to try to fill these gaps.

The combined cuts will result in a $5 million to $7 million monthly hole in abortion funding nationwide, with devastating consequences. This extended crisis calls for an immediate and sustained investment in independent abortion funds that are best equipped to support people seeking abortion care.

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, CAF has fielded over 25,000 requests for support from people based in 44 states and spent over $7.5 million on abortion care and related wraparound supports like transportation, lodging, child care stipends, and more. In the first month of the initial cuts, CAF pledged over $600,000 to pay for appointment costs and travel needs, more than double the amount we pledged at this time last year. We work with over 75 clinics and hospitals across Illinois and beyond, and we collaborate daily with abortion funds across the country, including Nebraska Abortion Resources, Wisconsin Medical Fund, Arkansas Abortion Support Network, and Iowa Abortion Access Fund, to streamline support for our callers. Each and every one of our partners is feeling the effects of this crisis.

Abortion funds are adept at stretching resources, but we simply cannot make something from nothing. Without immediate and sustained investment in independent abortion funds from all levels—philanthropy, grassroots donations, and all levels of government—the reality is that thousands more people will not get the abortion care they need. People will be forced to give birth, carrying financial, physical, mental, and emotional burdens with lasting impacts for their families and communities. This will be the reality soon. And for many people in situations similar to Kayla’s, it already is.

By meeting people’s immediate needs to access abortion care and showing up with kindness, we are making strides toward our vision of reproductive justice for all without denying the reality of this moment. Any long-term strategy for abortion access must prioritize immediate and sustained investment in independent abortion funds so we can get people abortion care now and every day, until we actualize reproductive freedom for all.

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