April 10th, 2013

Relief and disappointment

President Obama unveiled his 2014 budget this morning. We commend the President for striking restrictions on D.C. funding of abortion for low-income women in his budget and for moving to lessen some of the restrictions on coverage for women in the Peace Corps. However, we join many other groups in the women’s health and rights community in our disappointment that he did not take a critical step toward lifting the current Medicaid coverage ban. President Obama could have taken this historic opportunity at the dawn of his second term in office to present a clean budget to Congress; he did not.

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Categories: abortion restrictions, DC Abortion Fund, economic justice, Funds, Hyde Amendment, unfair laws

April 4th, 2013

Gaining ground in the conversation on reproductive health

North Dakota. Mississippi. Arkansas. Virginia. Texas. Sometimes it can seem like we're fighting a losing battle. But in fact, in many places we're gaining ground!

At RH Reality Check, Susan Schewel with the Women's Medical Fund and Megan Smith, founder of the Repeal Hyde Art Project, talk about recent successes in Philadelphia, Cambridge, New York City, and Austin and remind us that:

Choice is meaningless without access, and we can be the ones to push for change. If we want all people to have access to care across the United States, we must create newsworthy initiatives calling for an expansion rather than a retraction of coverage, and we must call upon our elected representatives to do the same.

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Categories: abortion restrictions, health care reform, Hyde Amendment, unfair laws, Women's Medical Fund (Pennsylvania)

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 29th, 2013

"Stories like this are what inspire me to continue to do this work."

"I talked with a woman who had two children and had already gone to everyone she knew and had asked for everything that she could. She was faced with either not paying rent that month or having a child that she didn't feel that she could... " Tanisha Humphrey works at Advocates for Youth and volunteers with the DC Abortion Fund, where she sees the impact of the ban on Medicaid funding of abortion firsthand.

Watch the video here, and then sign this letter to President Obama asking him to present a clean budget to Congress this year, free of abortion funding restrictions!

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Categories: abortion restrictions, DC Abortion Fund, economic justice, Funds, Hyde Amendment, Medicaid, TakeAction, unfair laws

January 27th, 2013

Melissa Harris-Perry Show features abortion funds activist Steph Herold

"We cannot forget the basic issue of access to abortion." Melissa Harris-Perry features New York Abortion Access Fund board member and funds activist Steph Herold on her Saturday morning show to continue the discussion of the reality of abortion rights in women's lives 40 years after Roe v. Wade. Watch the video here:

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Categories: abortion restrictions, economic justice, Funds, Hyde Amendment, Medicaid, New York Abortion Access Fund, TakeAction, unfair laws

January 23rd, 2013

National Network of Abortion Funds Board member Karen Law of Pro-Choice Resources in new video

"She shouldn't have to decide between paying her rent, housing her family, and having an abortion..." National Network of Abortion Funds Board Member Karen Law of Pro-Choice Resources, featured in a new video that urges President Obama and Congress to lift the ban on Medicaid funding of abortion.

Watch the video here, and then sign this letter to President Obama asking him to present a clean budget to Congress this year, free of abortion funding restrictions!

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Categories: abortion restrictions, economic justice, Funds, Hyde Amendment, immigrants' rights, Medicaid, Pro-Choice Resources, TakeAction, unfair laws

January 16th, 2013

Abortion and reproductive justice activism in the post-Roe era

January's American Journal of Public Health features our own Marlene Gerber Fried, co-founder of the National Network of Abortion Funds, faculty director of Hampshire College's Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, and current Network board member. Her article, "Reproductive Rights in the Post-Roe Era," chronicles the history of abortion rights activism since the passage of Roe v. Wade four decades ago.

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Categories: abortion restrictions, economic justice, Funds, TakeAction, unfair laws

November 7th, 2012

Women won in 2012. Let's aim high.

Across the country voters spoke loud and clear this week: President Obama ran on a platform strongly supporting the right to abortion regardless of the ability to pay, and he won resoundingly.

Women won. By enormous margins, women delivered that victory.

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Categories: abortion restrictions, economic justice, Funds, health care reform, Hyde Amendment, immigrants' rights, TakeAction

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 30th, 2012

36 years of the Hyde Amendment: a call to action

On September 30, 1976, the House of Representatives passed the Hyde Amendment, banning federal Medicaid funding of abortion. And every year since, the Hyde Amendment has been included in the federal budget. For 36 years, this ban has burdened the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. For 36 years, the Hyde Amendment has singled out abortion coverage, targeting low-income women, young women, women serving in the military, Native American women, rural women, and women of color.

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Categories: abortion restrictions, economic justice, health care reform, Hyde Amendment, Medicaid, TakeAction, unfair laws