How to support US abortion access
Updated 24 June
Like many of us, you may have been horrified by news that the US has overturned Roe v Wade. Many Americans already face so many barriers to abortion care, and a fresh attack on reproductive rights in the US has the potential to impact rights around the world.
How to help
ASN is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds, which works through its membership to remove barriers to abortion access in the USA. You can find a list of around 100 abortion funds on their website which welcome donations and other forms of support. Abortion Care Network is a national association for independent community-based, abortion care providers and their allies.
Read up on safe self-managed abortion with pills. See also Plan C Pills.
Read up on abortion access, abortion funds, and the long history of struggle for reproductive justice. You can read more about abortion funds in this post: ‘Abortion Funds 101’. Our friends at Women Help Women have also published a great article: Do the Work by Doing What Works.
As ASN’s Director says in this article: “Be loudly, unashamedly pro-choice. Periods, fertility, miscarriage, pregnancy, abortion, menopause – these are normal everyday issues for all of us.”
Share stories and social media posts about abortion, and follow accounts like Shout Your Abortion, NNAF, and Liberal Jane.
It might be easy for people in the UK and Europe to think this is an American problem… it’s not.
The US often hits the headlines this side of the Atlantic when there are attacks against abortion access. But what some people miss is the situation in Europe is far from perfect!
Northern Ireland has decriminalised abortion, but not commissioned any services which means people still have to travel to England. Poland has enforced a near-total ban on abortion, and women there are dying from preventable causes because doctors won’t give them abortions. Malta has one of the strictest abortion laws in the world. And people from the Republic of Ireland are being left behind by the post-Repeal laws. We’ve funded more than 179 clients since the law changed, and heard from well over 500 people.
If you want to help a little closer to home, there are several abortion funds helping European people access abortions – of which ASN is one! Most of the others are supported by donations to Abortion Without Borders, a European initiative (of which ASN is a member) that has helped over 40,000 Polish clients to access an abortion since its launch in December 2019.
Any questions? Get in touch: [email protected].