Dear Friend,
Imagine you are pregnant. For one or many reasons, you do not want to be. If you have access to certain kinds of insurance, financial means, and a local provider, having an abortion may be something you can do with the respect and safety that, by all means, we all should be afforded.
But, if you don’t have the right kind of insurance and, like most people in the U.S., don’t have $400 saved for emergencies, your situation gets more complicated. If you live in one of the 90% of counties without an abortion provider and your employer doesn’t offer the basic right of a living wage or paid time off, your burden grows. If you’re a young person who the state has mandated needs parental consent for your abortion, or an undocumented immigrant whose bodily autonomy is already unjustly policed, or someone experiencing domestic violence, the number of compounded barriers continue to increase.
What do you do? You hustle. You turn to your friends and family to see if they can lend you money. You might make choices about whether to pay your rent or your electric bill that month. You might risk your job to take the time off needed to get your procedure.
You might call an abortion fund.
If you do, what you’ll get is affirming, nonjudgmental support to help you navigate whatever barriers you face. In contrast to an economic and political system that evaluates your worthiness on how much money you have, an abortion fund will hear you, respect you, and trust you. If they can’t meet your need, they’ll work with other abortion funds to get you the support you need to close the gap.
In a recent survey of abortion fund callers, 100% reported that calling their abortion fund was the most positive part of their abortion experience.
We are proud and inspired by this network. Most member funds are staffed by volunteers, creating this vital safety net in addition to their own full-time jobs. They take calls to give those seeking an abortion a soft landing place and a respite from the hustle. With your partnership, we support this network by growing the leadership of volunteers, strengthening the infrastructure of abortion funds, building connectivity amongst funds and uniting with a resounding collective voice for policy and cultural change. We honor and celebrate the life-saving work of abortion fund volunteers.
And they deserve more.
Right now, abortion funds are able to support 29,000 of 150,000 calls they receive each year. An individual seeking assistance sometimes has to make multiple calls, telling their stories more times than they may like, and waiting for callbacks while abortion funds work diligently connecting with each other and other resources to weave together the support the caller seeks.
We’re ready to end the hustle. With your support, we have a plan to realize a vision for abortion funds as even more powerful, well-resourced central hubs that fuse direct care, organizing, and community-building.
There is so much we can do together. Will you join us by ramping up your investment in abortion funds by making a donation today? In honor of our 25th anniversary, a generous donor will match every dollar up to $25,000.
Abortion funds will always be here to exercise profound compassion through collective power, in direct resistance of a government that is dead set on punishing people who can’t afford or access an abortion. If politicians continue to fail us, as they did in the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh, we will continue to take care of each other. Alongside you and our thousands of supporters, we will fiercely love, protect, and organize together.
The stakes are high. The impact is deep. The potential is breathtaking.
You’ve been there every step of the way, and now, we need you to amp up your commitment and double down on your support. Are you with us?
With love and power,
Yamani Hernandez
Executive Director
P.S. Remember that every dollar raised until the end of 2018 will be matched up to $25,000 thanks to a generous match from our friends at the Groundswell Fund! There’s never been a better time to reaffirm your belief in our collective ability to fund abortion, build power, and dream big.