Dear supporters,

We are ending 2023 in gratitude! Over the past year, we have witnessed the generosity of new and ongoing donors, held our most successful Fund-a-thon yet, and used state support to advance abortion access within Massachusetts.

A quick reminder: The Jane Fund makes pledges to clinics on behalf of people who contact us because they can’t afford an abortion (medication or procedural). Some local people call our phone line and speak with a volunteer; others work with sibling abortion funds elsewhere who contact us on their behalf. Either way, that’s our core mission: funding abortion locally and across borders, because no one should continue a pregnancy against their will, and certainly not for lack of money. If you have even $10 to spare, we can use it almost immediately to support bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.

LOCAL ACTION

By mid-October, we pledged just over $31,000 to abortion providers in Massachusetts for care they provided to our callers. We are grateful to the Department of Public Health and our sibling fund Tides for Reproductive Freedom for facilitating the grant process that provides us that support.

In addition, we’ve used donations to pledge $7,000 for contraception on behalf of people in Massachusetts already receiving abortion funding.

NATIONAL CONTRIBUTION

Our work transcends state borders–much of our work is in solidarity with funds and clinics across the country. We’re proud to use the relative security of our position in Massachusetts to ensure abortion access for people living elsewhere. We’re also proud that a small, volunteer-led fund can contribute to a national (sometimes international) effort to overcome financial barriers to reproductive freedom. And yet, we are unable to continue at our current pace. Know that any gift you make to the Jane Fund will help close the sizable gap between our income and our support for callers.

To be clear, our spending down the post-Dobbs influx of donations is a deliberate decision: It would be inconsistent with our mission and values to hold lots of money in our bank accounts while funds, clinics, and individuals need it urgently. The idiom “save for a rainy day” advises us to have resources for an emergency situation like the need we see now. The post-Dobbs environment is a deluge. And although we appreciate the donations that pour in when abortion is in the news, we need ongoing, sustained support to meet the need.

OUTSIZE IMPACT

As of December 15, we have pledged $384,388 on behalf of nearly 650 callers this year. Their situations vary, but that number includes people traveling great distances, overcoming multiple hurdles, and defying stigma to determine their own futures. We are perpetually in awe of the bravery and determination of abortion-seekers and the resourcefulness and generosity of those who assist them (which includes you!).

THE ABORTION LANDSCAPE

As this recent article in The Upshot blog of The New York Times makes clear, the post-Dobbs abortion bans are both morally reprehensible and largely ineffective. The article also highlights the hard work of abortion funds, clinics, practical support organizations, and others who have rallied to ameliorate the loss of abortion access. The solidarity pledges we make on behalf of callers in other states are a small part of this national effort. Although the map above shows where patients call home, the enormous travel burden facing abortion-seekers is more clear in this depiction of solidarity pledges by clinic location:

This chart doesn’t capture other regional communities of solidarity funding; self-managed and/or medication abortions; travel to Mexico, or other factors. It does, however, let us shine a light on the impact of a few crucial organizations:

Clinics providing later-in-pregnancy abortion care:
Parkmed in New York City
Partners in Abortion Care in Maryland
Dupont Clinic in Washington, DC

Abortion funds in traveled-to states:
Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF)
DC Abortion Fund (DCAF)
New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF)

Travel support:
Brigid Alliance
Elevated Access

These organizations are meeting the needs of an unprecedented number of people seeking abortion care far from home. We are honored to support their work but, as NNAF Executive Director Oriaku Njoku puts it, we need “a world where folks can get all the fully funded abortions they want plus more, without having to leave their community.”

Massachusetts residents who need abortions beyond the Commonwealth’s 24-week gestational limit also tend to travel to the clinics above. We see the immense cost facing these callers and have pledged over $35,000 on their behalf this year, often in collaboration with the other three Massachusetts abortion funds. Massachusetts abortion laws are relatively supportive, but the injustice of any restriction on abortion is apparent in these situations. (If you have been horrified by Kate Cox’s recent experience in Texas, consider that Massachusetts residents in this scenario also have to petition hospital boards for access to care and are sometimes denied, in violation of their wishes and autonomy.)

JUDITH FLEMING HENSHAW AWARD

Each year, we mark the contribution of an individual or organization that goes above and beyond in support of abortion access. This year’s recipient of the Judith Fleming Henshaw Award is the Online Abortion Resource Squad, or OARS. Led by abortion scholar Ariella Messing, OARS mobilizes volunteers on the vast social media site Reddit to offer credible information and support to anonymous users of the site. In a desert of misinformation and stigma, OARS has created an oasis:

“We run r/abortion–Reddit’s abortion forum–the only abortion support resource staffed by experts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Around 4,000 individuals visit r/abortion on any given day, underscoring a widespread need for accessible abortion information and support.”

We are glad to contribute a small honorarium to OARS to express our appreciation for their front-line work to connect people with abortion resources.

THANK YOU

Our work in 2023 has centered on gratitude–for each other; for our fund and clinic collaborators; for abortion pills and telemedicine; for the “shield law” that protects us and providers from out-of-state investigations; for the support of the National Network of Abortion Funds; for the gift of legal guidance; for support from the state; and for our supporters, who make the whole effort possible.

If you believe in people’s fundamental right to control their own bodies and futures, then you know the value of supporting an abortion fund. No one’s financial situation should determine their access to any healthcare. If you agree, please donate today.