A Love Letter to Philanthropy: In Solidarity, From a Friend Fighting for Abortion Access

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We are actively losing the fight for bodily autonomy. The stakes couldn’t be higher and philanthropic allies leaving us behind are causing harm. 

This new movement era requires us to move differently than we did prior to the fall of Roe v. Wade. As reproductive health, rights and justice organizations are forced to adjust their strategies around the incredibly hostile political climate, philanthropy must follow. Failure to do so perpetuates the harm of the systems of oppression we already have to navigate in providing exceptional care and resources to our communities. 

Today, funders in the reproductive health, rights and justice space are disproportionately focused on legislative advocacy, effectively overlooking a more holistic funding model rooted in reproductive justice that centers support for people who are facing astronomical barriers and risks to accessing basic healthcare.

The organization I have the privilege to lead, National Network of Abortion Funds — a network of 100 independent abortion funds nationwide providing financial and logistical support to individuals seeking abortion — is fielding more calls and financially supporting more abortion seekers now than at any time in our 30-year history. In the year following the Dobbs decision, abortion funds experienced a skyrocketing need for support. That’s because for almost half the country, accessing an abortion today requires more hassle and hustle than ever before. Traveling across state lines to receive reproductive care means abortion seekers face heightened barriers around funding, transportation, childcare, lodging and other logistical expenses associated with traveling to a clinic appointment. 

There are so many stories I could share to demonstrate the great lengths abortion funds go to every single day to ensure that anyone who wants or needs an abortion is able to access one in a way that honors their humanity. I’ll share just one. 

Last year, a member fund supported a young person from rural Mississippi who was fewer than 10 weeks pregnant and was seeking a medication abortion. In Mississippi, a post-Roe trigger ban made abortion illegal in nearly all situations. She called an abortion fund and decided a clinic in Illinois was the most accessible place for her to obtain her abortion. However, she lived two hours away from the closest airport, had never used a ride-share app and had never flown on a plane. The abortion fund worked closely with her to plan and guide her and her support person through the logistics of the travel process — from how to order a ride-share service to checking luggage for travel, and more. The abortion fund, too, partnered with local abortion funds to fund the abortion itself.

Our existing infrastructure is powerful and could use more support to fully meet the needs of those accessing abortion care. Abortion funds need to be able to rely on funding sources to more fully support the callers that rely on this community care in their time of need. 

As news broke of the end of Roe, our network received a surge of donations, but then faced a painful, staggering drop-off in giving as we moved further away from the Dobbs decision. 

The absence of a robust, committed community of philanthropic donors to support our grassroots expertise was laid bare. The fact is, our network did not witness a surge in institutional support post-Dobbs that matched the notable increase we observed from individual donors.

It breaks my heart that organizations from the grassroots to grasstops have been asking for our movement to be adequately funded because we deeply understand what’s at stake. We don’t need charity; we need solidarity from the philanthropic community. As a leader of a funding intermediary, I understand there is so much nuance and complexity in making funding decisions in a time of crisis. I also understand that the program officers with whom we have built relationships over time have the hard job of being a bridge between foundation leaders and the wants and needs of grantees. At the same time, I know we have a moral obligation to fight against forms of reproductive oppression if we plan on achieving any level of reproductive justice. 

I am asking the philanthropic community to channel the spirit of abortion funds to support an abundance of possibilities without starting from a scarcity mindset. Fund abortion access like you recognize the urgency of the situation. Like you care that people have to travel across state lines to get basic healthcare. Like you see the intersections of issues impacting our lives and communities every day. Like you are co-conspirators who understand we all have a unique role and collective responsibility to do right by impacted communities. Like you fearlessly trust the lived experience and expertise of your grantees.

Abortion funds cushioned the fall of Roe v. Wade by providing a safety net of care for those harmed by abortion restrictions. As the need for support continues to rise, we need the philanthropic community to commit to the movement in earnest. Multi-year, unrestricted grants are essential to ensuring abortion funds and the rest of our movement can navigate the landscape sustainably and with agility. Funding direct service, infrastructure, innovation and movement-building simultaneously is required for us to shift the conditions on the ground.

The opportunity is in front of you to fund reproductive justice and make future generations proud. This is an opportunity to support the real-time, on-the-ground needs of communities by shifting resources from people who have them to people who don’t. This is an opportunity to ensure that institutional giving is supporting a constellation of care that ensures abortion is accessible, available and acceptable in spite of the roadblocks our opposition keeps building. This is an opportunity to fund the liberatory experience of getting an abortion grounded in reproductive justice and unconditional love in a way that restores our faith in humanity. 

It won’t be easy, it won’t happen overnight, and we can’t do it alone. It’s going to take all of us, but it will be worth it. How far are you willing to go for our collective liberation?

Oriaku Njoku (she/they), is the Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds. Her work in reproductive health, rights and justice spans over a decade, from working in an Atlanta abortion clinic to co-founding and leading the abortion fund Access Reproductive Care-Southeast.