How Philanthropy Can Unite in Protecting Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice

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Note: This article was originally published on June 24, 2022.

The United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — that the Constitution does not confer the right to abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade — was another gut punch to much of the country. As gender equity and reproductive justice funders already connected to the work, we were similarly devastated by the news, but we weren’t surprised. 

For years, we’ve been following the lead of our grantee and movement partners by investing in and organizing for abortion access as part of a broader approach to reproductive justice. Reproductive justice, a framework developed by Black women, calls on us to fully embody intersectional approaches to solve this crisis. That framework connects abortion access, birth justice, climate and economic justice, and many forms of bodily autonomy, including freedom from state violence. This work is a testament to the power of consistent and persistent organizing. It is also a reminder that the current challenges to abortion access are a backlash to the very real wins of the reproductive justice movement, including our expanded understanding of what is possible when we go beyond what was guaranteed by Roe and focus on the human right to control our sexuality, our gender, our work and our reproduction. As Black Queer poet and activist Audre Lorde once reminded us, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

We understand that the struggle we face now has been building over decades. We recognize the need to move beyond rapid-response funding toward multiyear investments in bold movement-building work led by the communities at the center of injustice in order to build power for the long term. This will require multiple philanthropic giving strategies.

We welcome funders and donors who want to join our collective efforts, especially anyone who is newly committed or reenergized by the latest news in this struggle. If you’re looking for ways to increase or deepen your investment in the fight to protect abortion access and bodily autonomy — which is essential to our democracy — here are five immediate actions that you and philanthropy at large can take: 

1. Give now and with trust 

Well-known national reproductive rights organizations will be flooded with resources and high-profile legal nonprofits will also get a boost in funding to fight these issues at the federal and local levels. This is great, and it’s only part of what’s needed right now. Consider giving locally and often to the abortion funds, practical support networks, independent abortion providers, and reproductive justice organizations in your cities and states. Trust that they have decades of experience working with abortion seekers, clinics and volunteers. Now is not the time to set restrictions or require lengthy applications, reports, meetings or other paperwork as part of your grants and donations. Intermediary organizations like Groundswell Fund, Ms. Foundation for Women, Third Wave Fund, and your local feminist fund have rigorous processes for vetting recipients and know our trusted partners. We can quickly and flexibly deploy an influx of dollars where they are needed the most, especially to grassroots, local, and smaller-budget groups. It will be critical to invest at the state level, as that is where many of the decisions will be made without the federal protections of Roe, and to invest in feminist funds that center gender and racial justice with a clear and unapologetic focus on reproductive justice. For example, Women’s Foundation California, New York Women’s Foundation, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, among other state-based women’s funds. Philanthropic support during this moment and beyond will also serve to address the significant underinvestment in gender justice, with less than 2% of overall philanthropic dollars going to women’s and girls’ organizations.

2. Listen to movement leadership

Roe has always been a floor rather than a ceiling for our communities, particularly concerning full accessibility to abortion and full-spectrum reproductive care. Reproductive, gender and birth justice movement leaders have been organizing in their communities and on the ground for decades, and have a clear vision for building a world where accessibility, agency and self-determination are centered. Losing the protections of Roe means an outsized effect on BIPOC people who can become pregnant, and increase the risk of criminalization for pregnancy outcomes and self-managed abortion. The implications within and across states will be dramatic. Of the $67 billion of charitable donations made by foundations in a single year, less than 0.05% was specified as benefiting causes that support Black women and girls. As a philanthropic community, it will be critical to think strategically about support in both states that experience abortion bans as well as those that are expected to see a dramatic influx of people who are able to travel to seek abortion care. In this moment, it’s critical to listen, learn and follow the lead of people on the front lines, particularly those who have had abortions and BIPOC-led organizations highlighted in the previous bullet point; they are experts on what is happening on the ground and are the luminaries who know the best path forward.

3. Plan for the future while acknowledging the past

The future that BIPOC-led reproductive health, rights, and justice groups envision is one where abortion is available, affordable, accessible and stigma-free. It is one where no one is denied care, where pregnancy outcomes are drastically improved, and abortion is decriminalized. And it is one where these issues are linked to racial, economic, immigration, disability and LGBTQ justice. The attack on Roe is part of a broader plan to restrict bodily autonomy and civil and human rights that includes anti-trans legislative efforts, threats to marriage equality and voter disenfranchisement. As SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson and many of our other grantee and movement partners remind us, efforts to restrict abortion rights and access are rooted in a long history of racism, classism and misogyny. We must also acknowledge past and present harms in the reproductive rights movement, where white women’s concerns and leadership were and still are centered. As a result, they successfully won the legal right to choose while Black and brown women, transgender and non-binary people, women struggling financially, young people, people with disabilities, undocumented people, among other marginalized communities, have been and still are forcibly sterilized and denied access to the full spectrum of safe pregnancy and birth care. In 2022 and beyond, we will not win without investing in an intersectional, BIPOC-led approach.

4. Collaborate across strategies and issues

Whether grassroots organizing, culture and narrative change, financial and practical support, research, legal support, policy advocacy, or impact litigation, ensuring continued abortion access will require us to use all the strategies we have at our disposal to win. We won’t make it if funding continues to flow only on certain issues, or within siloed investment strategies. Collaboration among funders and philanthropy-serving organizations, such as Funders for Reproductive Equity, organizers, lawyers, activists, medical providers, progressives, moderates, among other allies, will be critical in this fight. We must practice and embody trust-based philanthropy. Radical trust, love and community is the way forward, and will require donors and funders to be more inclusive and less bureaucratic in their decision-making.

5. Invest in existing movement infrastructure for the long term

For decades, networks of grassroots organizations led by people of color have been serving as safe havens for their communities, providing critically needed access to care. For these organizations, abortion access has always been essential. But what movement leaders have continually uplifted through lessons learned from deep community investment is that full-spectrum reproductive and gender-affirming care is equally critical. This care cannot be provided without long-term vision, plans for sustainability, and culturally congruent providers.

As funders, it’s essential that we understand the infrastructure that already exists. We have a responsibility to ensure that we are not engaging in extractive practices, dropping in unannounced, putting unnecessary stipulations on resources, or bailing if the situation feels insurmountable. 

Rather, our highest purpose in the current moment is to move flexible, multiyear, general operating support dollars to the field, moving resources quickly and without any strings attached. Rather than creating new initiatives, we must move resources that can empower existing BIPOC, transgender, and non-binary organizations and leadership at scale.

These organizations and leaders have the vision, decades-long track record, and relationships with communities on the ground already, and are best placed to advocate for their communities, build power for the long term, and fight back against current oppressive legislation at the local, state and federal levels.

Our liberation is bound to one another’s, and the surest way to freedom is to follow, and fund, those who know the way. Join us on the path forward. 

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Elizabeth Barajas-Román is president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network. 

Rocio L. Córdoba is executive director of Funders for Reproductive Equity. 

Sheena Johnson and Meenakshi Menon are interim co-executive directors of Groundswell Fund and Groundswell Action Fund. 

Teresa C. Younger is president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Joy Messinger is director of training and leadership development of Funders for Justice.