Letter from Yamani Hernandez, Executive Director

Dear abortion funders,

We are in the fight of our lives. 

The last few months have brought a new wave of complex and multi-layered threats to abortion access. Abortion bans passed in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, and Louisiana. Undocumented patients canceled abortion appointments for fear of immigration raids. People of color were prosecuted for suffering miscarriages.

And yet, I do not write to you today from a place of fear. This network is 76 abortion funds,1,500 individual members, and 40,000 supporters strong – and we were made for this moment.

Decades of building our resilience, strategizing, and learning to fiercely trust each other have primed us to fight back with clarity and unwavering strength. Abortion funds have navigated untenable political and cultural conditions for nearly 30 years, shoring up resources to offer anyone seeking abortion compassion, political education, and a healthy dose of problem-solving magic.

With every donation to the National Network of Abortion Funds, you make a political statement: that abortion access is a moral right we will never cede. 

In order to realize this vision, the network is poised for drastic growth. Abortion funds have the wisdom, values, and connections required to make reproductive justice a reality. With your support, we will continue to invest in our membership through transformative programs that strengthen regional collaboration, drive more money to abortion funds, build power and leadership in our movement, and challenge unjust anti-choice policies.

Abortion funds do tremendous work with what we have, but it is simply not enough. Across the network, we’re still only meeting a quarter of callers’ needs. Only a third of abortion funds have paid staff. The stakes are too great for us to be doing this life-saving, life-affirming work with shoestring budgets.

People calling abortion funds deserve the stability that comes from staff who can give their full attention to an evergrowing number of calls for assistance that are becoming more expensive and logistically complicated by the day. That’s why, in the year ahead, the National Network of Abortion Funds is laser-focused on scaling up abortion funds with full staffing, full budgets, and the infrastructure needed to support people in accessing and managing their abortions on their own terms.

We’re starting by investing $1 million directly in abortion funds through our new Collective Power Fund.

The growth we need as a network is not just about numbers of abortions and financial stability. We know that in order to transform the lives of abortion fund callers we have to transform ourselves. That is why we are working to expand our collective knowledge through opportunities like a political education series. We are working to make sure that the growth of abortion funds is not just blazing a trail forward but moving mindfully, in sync, with shared values and commitments to preventing and transforming any harm along the way.

The stakes are high and this moment is calling for all of us. Together, we will win.

In Solidarity,

Yamani Hernandez
Executive Director, NNAF

Download the Fall 2019 Newsletter.

$1 Million to Fund Abortion!

We are moving $1,000,000 to fund abortion through the new Collective Power Fund! Housed at NNAF, the Collective Power Fund will distribute abortion funding to 28 member organizations. Read more.

Strengthening Regional Connectivity

Abortion funds are changing the landscape of how healthcare works in this country by radically re-thinking what should happen when someone picks up the phone to access a health service. Read more.

Political Education Series for Members

This year NNAF is hosting a network-wide political education webinar series for individual and abortion fund members. We’re shifting the culture that shames and stigmatizes abortion by growing our knowledge and connection to each other. Read more.

Individual Member Profile

Shireen has been a NNAF individual member since 2018. Why? “Independent abortion funds are the backbone of this movement and I trust NNAF will lead the resistance in a post-Roe world.” Meet Shireen!

Hyde Amendment: Back to Basics

Since the inception of the Hyde Amendment it has served as a racist, classist, and oppressive barrier to reproductive healthcare. Learn more about the history and work that has been happening to end Hyde! Read more.

Youth Testify Storyteller Testifies Before Congress!

In June Youth Testify leader HK Gray testified before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C., about the barriers she faced when seeking an abortion in Texas as a minor. Read more.