About Us

Every year thousands of women sacrifice food, risk eviction, and pawn their possessions in order to raise money for an abortion. Some are forced to continue the pregnancy, abandon their education, and stay trapped in poverty.

Women face these difficult situations because the government denies abortion funding to women in need.

The National Network of Abortion Funds was formed in 1993 to respond to this urgent problem. We are a network of over 100 grassroots groups in more than 40 states that help women pay for abortion services.

We believe that:

The legal right to abortion is only meaningful when women have the resources to obtain abortion services.

Restrictions on abortion care and on public funding for abortion are discriminatory because they especially burden poor women, women of color, young women, and rural women.

Abortion is part of basic health care, which is a right that should be guaranteed to all through an expanded Medicaid program or another universal health care plan.

All women are entitled to reproductive justice. All women deserve to live in a world in which they have the power and the resources necessary to make healthy decisions about their bodies and their families.

We must act now to support women who want abortions and cannot afford them. The Network's member Funds provide direct financial assistance and support to women in need.

We must also fight for long-term change that guarantees every woman full reproductive health care. We call for full public funding of abortion, culturally competent and non-coercive family planning services, and support for low-income women to care for their children with dignity.

Programs

The National Network of Abortion Funds:

Background

In 1973, when abortion first became legal nationwide, poor women could obtain coverage for abortion through the Medicaid program. Medicaid is the government health program for low-income people in the United States. Between 1973 and 1977, almost any woman who needed an abortion could obtain one, regardless of her ability to pay. But in 1976 Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, banning federal Medicaid funding for abortion.  Since that time, federal Medicaid has paid for virtually no abortions. Thirty-three states have also banned state Medicaid funding for abortion.

Women Are Denied the Right to Abortion
Bans on Medicaid funding for abortion deny the right to abortion to thousands of women and most severely affect poor women, women of color, and young women. The cost of a first-trimester abortion can be more than half of what a poverty-level family lives on in a month. Poor women and girls often delay their abortions as they try to scrape together the money they need. These delays can force them into more expensive and complicated second-trimester abortions. Sometimes, they never get the money they need. As many as one in three poor women who would obtain an abortion if Medicaid covered it are instead forced to continue the pregnancy.

Congress also denies abortion coverage to many other women who rely on federal health plans: women in the U.S. military and Peace Corps, federal employees, disabled women, federal prisoners, Native American women covered by the Indian Health Service, and residents of the District of Columbia.

See Abortion Funding: A Matter of Justice for more details on the harmful consequences of funding bans and what we need to do to support real reproductive choices for all women.

Our History

In 1993, 24 grassroots abortion Funds came together to create the National Network of Abortion Funds. Today, as the only organization of its kind, the Network includes over 100 Funds in more than 40 states. Grassroots abortion Funds continue to provide leadership for the Network. Members of our board of directors come directly from our member Funds, and each board member plays an active role in providing assistance to women in need on the local level.

To find out about becoming a member of the Network, click here.