Abortion funds run short of money as demand soars and donations fall

Olivia Goldhill
Jan. 23, 2024

The head of the Abortion Fund of Ohio had a sinking feeling as she looked at its end-of-year finances last month. The fund had paid out $1.5 million in 2023 to help close to 4,400 patients get abortions — up from 1,175 the year before — and the pace wasn’t sustainable. If the fund didn’t take a pause for a few weeks, she feared it would run out of money and have to close for good.

The nonprofit stopped taking calls on Dec. 19, and made the “very very difficult decision” to suspend operations until Feb. 1, said Taren Holliman, the organization’s program manager. It’s among a handful of abortion funds that have had to temporarily halt operations as demand outstripped donations. Both the Utah Abortion Fund and Indigenous Women Rising paused for a month last summer after exceeding their budgets, and many more are reevaluating their funding policies and tightening purses.

Continued: https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/23/abortion-fund-warning-demand-up-donations-down/


A year after Tennessee’s abortion ban, 14,000 people have faced limited choices, devastating consequences

Organizations nationwide pull together to offer options for unwanted pregnancies

by Sono Motoyama
August 24, 2023

In the year since Tennessee’s abortion ban went into effect on Aug. 25, 2022, about 14,000 pregnant people in the state have been forced to find other solutions for their unwanted pregnancies.

Some have driven hours to out-of-state clinics for abortions. Others have ordered and taken FDA-approved pills, with possible risk of prosecution. Still others, unable to obtain an abortion in Tennessee, have carried their pregnancies to term. Some have even turned to unsafe and ineffective methods, such as taking herbs, large amounts of alcohol or medications unintended for pregnancy termination.

Continued: https://mlk50.com/2023/08/24/a-year-after-tennessees-abortion-ban-14000-people-have-faced-limited-choices-devastating-consequences/


USA – One year after Dobbs, getting an abortion is much more expensive

June 26, 2023

(Bloomberg) — While the long-term consequences of the end of Roe v. Wade could take years to tally, one outcome is already clear: a year after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, the costs associated with ending a pregnancy have soared.

The Brigid Alliance, which provides logistical support to people seeking abortion care, estimates that the average cost of traveling for care has increased 41% since the first half of 2022, when it was just over $1,000. The average spend for patients that need to fly has jumped 17% to $994; while a hotel stay — usually three nights — is up 29% to $919, according to the group.

Continued: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/health-care/abortion-much-more-expensive-one-year-after-dobbs


Echoing history, reliance upon travel rises for abortion care post-Dobbs

Restricted access adds logistical, emotional and financial burdens for patients, advocates say

BY: KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS
 JUNE 22, 2023

When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision one year ago, people of childbearing age in states across the country suddenly faced what seemed like a new prospect — having to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from home to get an abortion.

But historians say it is merely continuing a long tradition of pregnant people seeking out the sometimes lifesaving care they need wherever it can be found, and other people helping them along the way.

Continued: https://missouriindependent.com/2023/06/22/echoing-history-reliance-upon-travel-rises-for-abortion-care-post-dobbs/


How one quiet Illinois college town became the symbol of abortion rights in America

Chris Kenning, USA TODAY
Jun. 4, 2023

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The 26-year-old had never heard of the distant southern Illinois town, but it had become the closest option.

So she cobbled together money. Found child care. Asked her brother for a ride. And set off early one morning to drive north across state lines to 22,000-person Carbondale.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2023/06/04/carbondale-illinois-abortion-clinics/70180040007/


In post-Roe America, these Minnesotans are getting people to their abortion appointments

They're part of a movement to support those navigating the new abortion landscape. In some states, case managers' jobs are targeted.

By Briana Bierschbach Star Tribune
APRIL 14, 2023

Emily Mohrbacher spent all morning working through the queue, but by early afternoon, the list of people needing her assistance had climbed back up to 43. 

Laptop open, earbuds in, Mohrbacher snacked on a fig newton in her Minneapolis kitchen and got back to work. She used an encrypted app to send a few questions to a woman in another state who had an abortion scheduled the next day but no way of getting to her appointment. As she waited for a response, Mohrbacher checked in with another client from Nebraska who needed to get to St. Paul for her procedure.

Continued: https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-abortion-access-navigators-help-patients-travel-to-appointments/600266744/


‘We need to dream bigger’: As Roe v Wade marks 50th anniversary, advocates push further

Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
Jan 19, 2023

Each year since 1973, abortion rights activists have gathered on Jan. 22 for “Roe v. Wade Day” to celebrate the Supreme Court decision that granted a constitutional right to abortion.

But now, 50 years after the decision, Roe v. Wade Day will be different: Sunday will also mark the first anniversary of Roe since the ruling was overturned.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/19/roe-v-wade-50th-anniversary-abortion-access-womens-march/11030965002/


America’s abortion access divide is reshaping blue-state border towns

New or expanded health care clinics are starting to bring more people into small towns after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

By SHIA KAPOS
01/11/2023

A Tennessee-based health care provider announced plans in May — just one week after POLITICO published the draft Supreme Court opinion that foreshadowed the end of federal abortion protections — to open a clinic in Carbondale, Ill.

The provider, Choices, is seeing a steady stream of abortion patients from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas since it set up space in a shuttered dermatology office last fall, its only location outside Memphis.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/11/abortion-access-blue-state-border-towns-00077367


Boats, planes and automobiles: Projects aim to travel around restrictive state abortion laws

It’s not illegal to get an abortion off the Gulf coast or in a van in Colorado, critics and lawyers seem to agree. But other challenges remain.

By OLIVIA OLANDER
08/12/2022

In Colorado, abortion medication comes from a van parked near the state border. In Illinois, an organization is recruiting pilots to fly patients out of restrictive states. And in the Gulf of Mexico, an OB-GYN envisions a clinic at sea.

These headline-grabbing projects for abortion access are among the more audacious ways abortion-rights supporters are attempting to skirt state restrictions, and while they may be legal, they won’t be easy to set up or sustain.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/12/restrictive-state-abortion-laws-workaround-access-00051373


As Supreme Court Prepares to Rule on Roe, Illinois Once Again Ground Zero for Abortion Access

Could it mean the return of the Jane Collective for a new era?

DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence
June 1, 2022

When Maggie Olivia found herself in a Missouri doctor’s office in the wake of a positive pregnancy test, she didn’t mirror her doctor’s enthusiasm. She remembers being in a new relationship and not in a position to financially support a child.

“I was crying … It was really upsetting.” Olivia said. “My doctor at the time was like, ‘Congratulations, mom.’ They gave me a little gift bag with prenatal vitamins …”

Continued: https://news.wttw.com/2022/06/01/supreme-court-prepares-rule-roe-illinois-once-again-ground-zero-abortion-access