Organizations that pay for women to abort their babies say funds are dwindling or drying up altogether, even as the demand for abortion surges.
The Guardian published a story on Friday written by reporter Carter Sherman, who spoke with the leadership of several abortion funds around the country. The report details how some abortion funds have had to stop funding abortions entirely or pause certain operations to deal with the lack of funding as well as cost increases.
Laurie Bertram Roberts of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, told (MRFF) the outlet that her organization had to stop funding abortions in August and is now closed until January 2024. The moves come after people “donated tens of thousands of dollars” to the organization following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which sent the issue of abortion back to states and their elected representatives. The stint will be the longest the MRFF has ever been shut down, according to the report.
Anti-abortion activists react to the 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturns the landmark abortion Roe v. Wade case in front of the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
“We just don’t have the money,” Roberts, who co-founded the fund a decade ago, said. “It’s a strategic decision, to focus on fundraising for the next couple months, so that when we reopen, we’ll have money.”
“I didn’t think the emergency funding was gonna stay the same,” she added, referring to the spike in donation following the overturn of Roe. “But I didn’t expect for our funding to dip by 35 to 40 percent from last year.”
Sherman noted that following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, Americans “rushed to rage-donate millions to abortion funds and clinics” across the United States.
“Now, with the first year of post-Roe life in the rearview mirror, much of that money has been spent and the flow of donations has dried up for many organizations. And yet, as states continue to enact new bans and restrictions, the demand for help – and the cost of providing that help – has only grown,” the report states.
The MRFF is not the only abortion fund struggling post-Roe. The report found that Indigenous Women Rising hit its monthly budget in the middle of June and would cease operations until July. The Mountain Access Brigade, which works with women in Appalachia, halted its hotline for ten days in July to save money. In mid-July, the Utah Abortion Fund also announced that it would close until late August because it had exceeded its budget.
“You have increasing costs and decreasing donations,” said Hayley McMahon, who sits on the board of the Appalachian abortion fund Holler Health Justice and studies abortion at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. “Those two things combined are a perfect storm for just absolutely wiping out abortion funds.”
At the same time, the cost to obtain an abortion has “perhaps never been higher,” according to the report. As many states move to restrict or outlaw abortions, women who are intent on obtaining one must travel further to do so, which sometimes requires buying flights and gas, booking hotel rooms, and taking time off work. Some women who already have children at home must additionally secure childcare before having their baby aborted, according to the report.
Anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington, as the court hears arguments in a case from Mississippi. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
For example, Indiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina passed abortion restrictions over the summer. Subsequently, the Abortion Fund of Ohio reported surging numbers: in July, the fund reported assisting 355 women with abortions, and by August, the number surged to 562.
Lexi Dotson-Dufault, the Abortion Fund of Ohio’s patient navigation program manager, told the outlet that the money they have is not enough to meet demand. With three more months left of the year, the fund has already assisted 2,400 women with abortions, which is “700 more than it helped in 2022, and almost three times as many people as it helped in 2021,” the report states.
People who work for abortion funds also told the outlet that “they are now seeing even more people who are later on in their pregnancies,” which leads to more expensive abortions and can lead to more travel costs because not every clinic performs second trimester abortions.
As for cost increases, the Missouri Abortion Fund reported spending over $1 million between July 2022 and June 2023, even though they only assisted 300 more women with abortions than the previous year. The fund spent $235,000 the previous year.
“Basically, our budget tripled, but so has our cost,” said Missouri Abortion Fund executive director Jess Lambrecht.
The Nevada-based Silver State Hope Fund also reported having to become “very, very frugal.” Erin Bilbray-Kohn, the fund’s vice-president and acting executive, said that before the fall of Roe, the fund spent roughly $10,000 every year. But just three days after Roe fell, she raised $50,000 for the fund. Now, funding has “become so strained” that the organization is dipping into the money it had set aside to pay for next spring, according to the report.
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