In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC (PPMW) established the Abortion Access Fund to help patients in need of abortion care, no matter where they’re from. The fund just surpassed 2,000 patients supported, including both local patients and patients traveling hundreds of miles to reach PPMW’s doors.
The Abortion Access Fund helps with medical expenses as well as the costs of transportation, lodging, food, child care, and more. For many patients, this support, and the assistance of PPMW’s patient access navigator, are what make it possible for them to access care in the face of abortion bans and restrictions, juggling work and family responsibilities, and other hurdles.
Collaborative efforts to ensure abortion access
With so many patients in need of support, PPMW relies on donors and community partners to keep the Abortion Access Fund available for current and future patients. These supporters include the Pink Cape Society, a group of “distinguished, influential women who are on the front line of the fight to protect abortion care,” says PPMW Vice President of Development Nancy Frazier.
Like the Abortion Access Fund itself, the Pink Cape Society was established in response to the fall of Roe v. Wade, and its members contributed the fund’s initial $1 million. Since then, the fund has grown into a $4.5 million resource, with $3.5 million raised for current use and the $1 million endowment in reserve to enable the fund’s long-term sustainability. The Abortion Access Fund, in other words, is structured to support existing and future patients.
PPMW’s partnerships with other organizations extend the impact of available dollars and help keep the Abortion Access Fund sustainable. The Brigid Alliance, for example, provides travel, food, lodging, child care, and other logistical support for people seeking abortions, prioritizing those beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, when abortion care can be more expensive and difficult to access. The Brigid Alliance and PPMW frequently work together to coordinate care for these patients, enabling PPMW to meet these patients’ needs without exhausting the Abortion Access Fund.
The DMV Abortion Practical Support Network has also been instrumental in meeting the practical needs of patients coming to PPMW for abortion care, and PPMW also partners with groups like the DC Abortion Fund to support patient care.
In one example, PPMW collaborated with the Brigid Alliance and the DMV Abortion Practical Support Network to support a patient traveling from Florida to receive abortion care. For this patient, The Brigid Alliance covered transportation costs, the DMV Abortion Practical Support Network supported child care, and the PPMW Abortion Access Fund took care of hotel, food, and ground transportation costs.
This team effort shows the power of community partnerships focused on a common goal: to ensure that abortion bans, health inequity, income disparity, systemic racism, and other marginalizing factors don’t bar patients from receiving the essential care they need. But these partnerships alone are not enough to sustain the work of the Abortion Access Fund.
Meeting the urgent needs of a dire moment
As abortion bans continue to roll across the post-Roe United States and patients face increasing barriers to care, the Abortion Access Fund is more essential and in-demand than ever. Historically, 6% of PPMW’s patients came from outside of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. By June 2024, however, 15% of patients came from outside of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. This 15% includes a large number of patients from Florida, which enacted a six-week ban on May 1 of this year.
“PPMW’s Abortion Access Fund is extremely accessible for those who have financial or logistical barriers to care,” says PPMW Patient Access Navigator Sarah Dwyer. Dwyer focuses on providing one-on-one personalized support to patients who face barriers to accessing essential health care, so she has direct insight into the challenges they face.
“This fund allows us to continue being a reliable destination for abortion care for patients near and far,” Dwyer explains. She also notes that the individual expenses covered by the fund might seem mundane, but they are “very substantial” to the patients who receive aid, making their care possible or helping a patient feel safe and supported during their experience.
Direct support makes all the difference
The impact of the fund on patients’ lives cannot be overstated, says Dwyer. She shares the example of a recent patient who’d traveled from Georgia for abortion care.
The patient was a college student whose friend helped her purchase a plane ticket to get to a health center in Maryland, only to find that she was over the gestational limit for that center once she arrived there. The health center quickly rescheduled the patient at PPMW’s DC health center, but she had already booked non-refundable lodging near the other health center in Maryland, and she could not afford new lodging in DC or transportation expenses.
“Through the Abortion Access Fund,” Dwyer explains, “we covered her transportation to DC, her ground transportation while in DC, her hotel, and a one-way ticket home for her. Our partners at The Brigid Alliance refunded her for the expenses she lost on her previous arrangements.”
In another case, Dwyer shares, a Florida resident paid for her own flight to visit PPMW’s health center in Suitland, Maryland. This patient had exceeded Florida’s six-week limit for abortion care. “The Abortion Access Fund,” Dwyer explains, “enabled us to book her a safe hotel stay for 48 hours after the appointment, and cover the fees associated with changing her flight from the day after the appointment to 48 hours after, giving her more time to recover before traveling home.”
Dwyer encounters stories of patients facing considerable obstacles to accessing essential abortion care every day. The Abortion Access Fund, and the community partners who help extend its reach, have the power to connect these patients to life-changing care. But the fund isn’t without limits and it requires increased support as patient needs continue to increase.
Speaking to those considering a donation to the Abortion Access Fund, Dwyer shares, “In a time with so much uncertainty around abortion, many wish to be a hero. We need heroes, but we don’t need heroes to reinvent the wheel, we need them to help sustain existing supports like the Abortion Access Fund.”
“Your donation towards the Abortion Access Fund is put directly towards patients’ expenses,” she says. “It helps patients get the care they need and get back to their everyday lives, feeling valued and supported. Our donors make that possible.”
The Abortion Access Fund directly supports appointment costs and practical expenses for patients in need of abortion care, no matter where they come from. Consider donating to change patients’ lives today.
Tags: abortion access