March 7th, 2013

Hyde hurts...and Helms hurts, too

On March 7, 2013 we joined the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Rights, Forward Together, Ipas, SisterSong, and several abortion funds in an online chat to talk about the impact of abortion funding restrictions on rural women, women in poverty and women of color--both in the United States and, via the Helms Amendment, well beyond our borders. Check out the slide show for some highlights of our discussion!

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Categories: abortion restrictions, Eastern Massachusetts Abortion Fund, economic justice, Funds, Hyde Amendment, immigrants' rights, International Funds, Medicaid, New York Abortion Access Fund, unfair laws

January 1st, 2013

2012 highlights

As we head into a bright new year, we look back at some of our favorite moments of 2012:

1. In January, we commemorated 39 years of legal abortion by participating in the online March for Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice. Over 134,000 people put themselves on the map, telling elected officials that a two-tier system of health care is unacceptable and sending the message to "Keep Abortion Safe and Legal -- and Make it Affordable and Accessible!"
2. We welcomed three new abortion funds to the Network! In Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina, there now more options for low-income women. And the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund started funding for the first time in 2012!
3. We broke all records in our 3rd Annual National Bowl-a-Thon for Abortion Access--and we're looking forward to another record-busting year in 2013!
4. In Minnesota, Oregon, and West Virginia, we protected access to abortion for over 275,000 low-income women, fighting attacks on state Medicaid coverage.
5. Minnesota's Pro-Choice Resources opens their "gap fund," the first abortion fund in the nation to specifically help women who qualify for state Medicaid funding get their abortions without delay, instead of waiting weeks for the state to process their paperwork.

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Categories: Abortion Access Network of Arizona, Abortion Support Network, Bowl-a-Thon , economic justice, Funds, health care reform, Hyde Amendment, International Funds, TakeAction

October 27th, 2012

On the anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, celebrating the UK's only abortion fund

Guest post by Jennifer Reiter, a volunteer with London's Abortion Support Network. The Abortion Support Network (ASN) was founded in 2009 to help women who need to travel from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for a safe and legal abortion. Each year since then requests have doubled for funding, accommodation, and transportation.

When I moved to London from Chicago in 2009, I was aghast that no one recognized or celebrated one of the most life-saving pieces of legislation in the history of the United Kingdom, the 1967 Abortion Act legalizing abortion in the UK. The Act, which was passed on 27 October 1967 and came into effect on 27 April 1968, was truly great advance for women’s health. Before 1967, more women died of unsafe abortion than any other pregnancy-related cause.

In contrast, in the US the anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a huge annual celebration every January and often includes dazzling fundraising gala events. I even remember one year that then-Senator Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser at which I worked one wintry anniversary. So why weren’t pro-choice campaigns and charities in the UK taking advantage of this landmark date in October by celebrating, speaking out and raising much-needed funds?

The following year I was introduced to the Abortion Support Network (ASN).

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Categories: Abortion Support Network, International Funds

October 2nd, 2012

March for Choice in Dublin draws thousands

Friday, September 28, 2012 was the Global Day of Action for Safe and Legal Abortion and the following day the largest demonstration for abortion rights in 20 years took place in Dublin, Ireland, where Mara Clarke of the UK's only abortion fund, the Abortion Support Network, spoke to thousands of activists on the need for universal access to safe abortion.

An excerpt from Ms. Clarke's speech:

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Categories: abortion restrictions, Abortion Support Network, economic justice, Funds, International Funds, unfair laws

September 28th, 2012

Global Day of Action for Safe and Legal Abortion

September 28 is the Global Day of Action for Safe and Legal Abortion. Today, we celebrate the work that our international funds are doing to minimize the dangers of unsafe abortion in countries where abortion is a crime, and the work that grassroots abortion funds do here at home.

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Categories: Abortion Access Network of Arizona, abortion restrictions, International Funds, TakeAction, unfair laws

July 11th, 2012

Requests from Ireland double for the third consecutive year

For the third consecutive year, the international abortion fund Abortion Support Network (ASN) in England will see requests for abortion funding from Irish women double.

As ASN director Mara Clarke (pictured at left) tells The Guardian, "The continued economic crisis is making it even more of a struggle for women and families to keep their heads above water and Ireland's severe abortion restrictions make it even harder for women in financial distress."

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Categories: Abortion Support Network, economic justice, Funds, International Funds, unfair laws

April 24th, 2012

The MARIA Fund: supporting women’s access to abortion in Mexico

Today marks the fifth anniversary of legal first trimester abortion in Mexico City. On April 24, 2007, the Mexico City Legislature voted to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court of Mexico upheld the law in 2008.

Because Mexico City is the third largest city in the world, this policy change benefits hundreds of thousands of women with access to free, legal abortion services. The policy also lays bare a need among women in other parts of the country to travel to the capital to obtain safe and legal abortion care.

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Categories: Funds, International Funds

January 27th, 2012

Canada's abortion fund: helping women to access care

On January 28, 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada decriminalized abortion in the case of R. v. Morgentaler.

The Court found the country’s restrictive abortion law unconstitutional because it infringed on a woman’s right to “life, liberty, and security of the person” under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was adopted in 1982.

Unlike the United States and most countries, Canada has no operative legislation on abortion.

How did Canada get here?

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Categories: abortion restrictions, Funds, International Funds, TakeAction, unfair laws