Organizations that help pay for abortions are capping the amount they can help because travel costs have risen and the wave of “outrage” that hit them two years ago has subsided.
Abortion funds, which have operated in the US for decades, in many cases as volunteer groups, increased their capacity rapidly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending the national right to abortion. Donations poured in from supporters who see the group as key to preserving abortion access as most Republican-controlled states impose restrictions.
The expansion of funds and increased access to abortion pills are the main reasons for the increase in the number of abortions despite the ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in 14 countries and after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, in four others.
But the fund found that even with a record budget, it was not enough to fill the entire gap between the cost of an abortion and what women seeking it could afford because they had to travel further for the legal procedure.
The National Abortion Federation, which helps people seeking abortions across the country, used to cover half the cost of abortions for callers who couldn’t pay. From July, it was pulled back to 30%. Brittany Fonteno, the organization’s president and CEO, said the allocation had to be cut because of rising demand and costs — even though the fund has a budget of $55 million this year.
“We now know that the people who will be most affected by the funding changes — and the abortion ban that led to the funding changes — are the people who are least likely to be kept out of care,” Fonteno said. “And that includes people of color, young people, immigrants and people with lower incomes.”
Other groups also impose restrictions on aid to avoid exhausting funds.
The Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, based in Virginia, hits its budget limit almost every week and has to postpone requests until next week.
The Cobalt Abortion Fund in Colorado has to limit how much it can do. Its president, Karen Middleton, said groups like hers are used to it.
“It’s a bake sale of the abortion rights movement,” he said.
Abortion funds have existed for decades without the spotlight. Many were – and some remain – volunteers. Nearly all of them ramped up as the abortion landscape shifted.
Cobalt, for example, spent $206,000 in 2021. Of that, only $6,000 was for travel expenses – and most of that came in the form of gas cards to help people in remote areas of Colorado get to the clinic.
This year, the group expects to spend $2.2 million – 10 times more than in 2021. In the first six months of this year, it spent more than $600,000 on travel and other logistics costs. They are currently booking hotel rooms and flights – usually very quickly.
“We are as much a travel agency as we are an abortion fund,” Middleton said.
In Colorado, like other states between the coasts, the spread of patients begins at the end of 2021 when the ban on abortion after the first six weeks of pregnancy takes effect in Texas. That has since been replaced by a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
For the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, the big change came after May 1, when Florida’s ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy went into effect. Previously, Florida, the nation’s third most populous state, was a destination for travelers from other Southern states that had stricter restrictions.
Greene said her fund helped 20 people from Florida from January to April. When the ban went into effect, Virginia became the closest state where abortion was available past 12 weeks and without a 72-hour waiting period. Greene said the fund helped about 40 Florida residents from May to August.
The average cost of travel per Floridian is about $3,000, he said — more than any other state.
Fonteno said the request from Florida — the sixth in a month since the ban began — was the impetus for the sudden policy change earlier this year. Blue Ridge and other funds have tried to make a difference.
“We’re seeing more patients with funding gaps,” Greene said.
To try to keep the weekly aid budget, funds have been cut back when receiving calls for help for two mornings a week instead of two full working days. Greene said her fund is partnering with others to try to cover costs.
The New Jersey Abortion Access Fund responded to the National Abortion Federation’s cuts by increasing what it sends each week to the solidarity fund to help people seeking abortions from other states to $5,000 from $3,000, said Quadira Coles, the group’s president.
The organization also sends block grants to New Jersey abortion clinics to help pay for patients who can’t afford the fees. Coles said the group had also increased the funds, after hearing from clinics that they had run out of funds in half a month.
The group could see some minor financial pressure depending on the outcome of measures on the November ballot that would expand state constitutional rights to abortion in nine states.
In four states – Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota – roads will lift the current ban and could mean more people can access abortion without travel.
In other countries, the changes will be more subtle. For example, part of Colorado’s amendment would have allowed state government employee health plans to cover abortions — possibly reducing the number of people seeking help paying for them.
In the meantime, organizers of some funds say some supporters have contributed to the ballot measure campaign, at the fund’s expense.
Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of Faith Roots, which helps pay for people traveling to New Mexico for abortions, said that many donors started when the Texas restrictions, often called Senate Bill 8, or the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision. recurring gifts – although others give only once.
“For those who felt that, whether it was righteous anger or passion, that led them to donate after SB 8 and after Dobbs, we are still here, and the need is still here,” she said. “We still need him.”
