Opinion: The crucial role of abortion funds in helping people access reproductive care

In the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, people across the country turned their outrage into donations, funneling much-needed dollars to abortion funds to help ensure that those who needed access to care were still able to do so in a precarious landscape. 

Here we write from the other side of the one-time rage donations, two years of anti-abortion bans across the country, and a mounting demand for abortion access surpassing the pre-Roe era need. 

Abortion funds are a crucial piece of support that abortion seekers have in the South, and the need will overwhelm us so long as we continue to be driven by instances of rage and moments of fury. What abortion seekers need now is devoted attention that will outlast an election cycle or a legislative session, sustaining energy and the constant community resourcing it will require to survive, resist, and create a sustainable normal for all.

With the upending of federal protections, each state regulated reproductive health and access to it according to their government and constitutions. We have a unique experience at Carolina Abortion Fund where we operate within two neighboring states with two completely different levels of access and hurdles to navigate. While abortion is technically still legal in South Carolina, the state’s six-week ban makes North Carolina’s 12 week-ban feel more lenient to Southerners seeking healthcare.

This perceived leniency comes with harrowing realities that don’t start or end at the cost of the procedure for our callers and for all abortion seekers in our region. 

In North Carolina, patients receiving an abortion at any stage of pregnancy are required to make multiple appointments. First, patients must get counseling information from an abortion provider, and then wait 72 hours before they can obtain care. Following the abortion, patients must make a follow-up appointment 7-14 days later, a requirement that has been deemed medically unnecessary as patients could take an at-home test and receive the same results. 

Not only do these appointments place a financial burden on those seeking care—as they can involve time off work, transportation, lodging, and childcare costs—but these state mandates are also emotionally taxing as the counseling and waiting period can be used as coercive measures to influence a patient into continuing the pregnancy. 

While the cost of the procedure itself is the most apparent financial burden, over 171,000 abortion seekers traveled long distances to escape bans in 2023 alone. For folks traveling out of state, factors including airfare, gas, lodging, food, and childcare, in addition to the abortion itself, can add up to anywhere between $500 and $2,300.

We’re proud to admit that is where we typically step in. Like our fellow funds, we do so much more than just cover clinic fees. At Carolina Abortion Fund, we provide resources to help abortion seekers understand the laws surrounding their region, provide emotional support throughout the process, and support each individual to receive the unique care needed in their personal reproductive journey.

The ever-evolving legislative landscape paired with financial restrictions have led to many funds pivoting to cover transportation costs both in and out of state, while some funds solely cover travel expenses. Funds are having conversations and pairing callers to resources in a country with dwindling options for care. 

We know funds help make abortion care access possible, but mutual aid has never and will never be the only way towards access for all. An abortion seeker can perfectly plan and execute everything from cost to travel to a T, yet even with best laid plans, folks can be turned away at clinics due to new laws, miscounting gestational age, new bans, or subjective discretion. This is always compounded for abortion seekers within the margins of the margins (undocumented folks, adolescents, rural folks, and single parents); for example, younger folks seeking abortion access oftentimes face extenuating processes in addition to just getting their abortion such as navigating parental consent or notifications laws, increased stigma, and interference. 

It has required an entire community — not just a team — of volunteers, funds, clinics, and practical support organizations to help abortion seekers through, what in some cases, their family or friends can’t or won’t. This community has resisted abortion bans across the nation, moving abortion seekers from home to clinic and back to the arms of their loved ones, and this would not be possible without every single hand and dollar from them.

Abortion funds depend on donations to run their lines and keep them open. Every single donation we’ve received we’ve been able to put directly towards helping our callers. Each donation ensures call and text lines remain open and free, clinical costs are met, and travel expenses are paid to the greatest degree possible. As advocates continue to fight for larger legal protections for all, funds fight for each individual person in their unique reproductive journey, no matter the cost.