Abortion funds work overtime to help patients hurdle financial and logistical barriers to abortion access, and their work has gotten increasingly more difficult after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Oriaku Njoku, Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, sits down with us to talk about the power of abortion funds, what they do for communities, and how they facilitate access to abortion care across the country. 

An abortion fund acts as mutual aid, facilitating and providing access to logistical help for those seeking abortion care. This help may include financial support, transportation, patient education, and more. Patients often reach out to a fund after they’ve scheduled an appointment, and the fund will work closely with the patient to come up with the financial difference needed to receive medical services (which is $500 on average). Funds work with other funds across the United States to ensure that money, resources, and support are given to those seeking an abortion.

Oftentimes, people that reach out to abortion funds for assistance are those in already marginalized communities, such as Black folks, Indigenous people, non-Black people of color, young people, those living rurally, etc. Those living in rural Mississippi-- a state that only had one abortion clinic before the overturning of Roe v. Wade—have compounding and intersectional factors that make accessing abortion care increasingly difficult, such as transportation, geography, income, race, ethnicity, and pre-existing abortion restrictions in the state, among others. In fact, over 90% of those living in the Southeast United States live in a county without an abortion provider. 

At the core of abortion funds is reproductive justice, or the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities, as defined by Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. It is important to understand the difference between the reproductive health, rights, and justice frameworks and what it means to have human rights and social justice at the center of these conversations. 

Links

National Network of Abortion Funds on Twitter

National Network of Abortion Funds on Facebook

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It’s the holiday season, which means it’s the perfect time to challenge misinformed opinions around abortion and other reproductive healthcare when they occur at the dinner table. Talking about abortion destigmatizes and normalizes care, so let’s make sure we have these conversations now and year-round.

Donate to abortion funds! You can find NNAF’s donation page here, where donations can be made to specific funds or be split across their network of 90 funds!

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