Are you angry/scared/worried about potentially losing Roe vs. Wade? Do you want to help?
A lot of people are REALLY WORRIED about the leaked Alito draft, and for good reason. If Roe vs. Wade is overturned, many states will enact trigger laws that revoke the right to safe abortion access. But that doesnât mean that safe abortions wonât be possible. Theyâll just be harder to access.
Fortunately, we arenât powerless. There are things we can do to help preserve the right to abortion and, if Roe falls, help people get the abortions they need.
Here are some actionable things you can do to help!
Donate to your local abortion fund.
This is a financial commitment, obviously, but these funds are vital to helping people access abortions. There are different types of funds. Practical funds help with transportation, housing, and other practical needs. Clinical funds help with paying for the procedure. Both types of funds are necessary and helpful!
If youâre in a state with protected abortion access, see if thereâs a practical fund in your state that you can donate to. These funds make it possible for people for other states to afford travel and lodging in your state. You might also want to consider donating to funds in states or regions that have trigger laws, like the Yellowhammer Abortion Fund, which helps people in Mississippi, Alabama, and the Deep South.
To find an abortion fund in your state, you can google âabortion fund + your stateâ or open up this google doc thatâs a maintained list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T-aDTsZXnKhMcrDmtcD35aWs00gw5piocDhaFy5LKDY/preview?pru=AAABgKwRCFs*fZxkvUyYtHx7T4KXmRnOLA
Thereâs also https://abortionfunds.org/, but as of right now (2 May 2022, right after the SCOTUS leak happened), their website is down. Too much traffic!
Volunteer with a hotline.
As of writing this, a lot of abortion fund websites are completely overwhelmed. Lots of people are rightfully upset and looking for some way to help. Many of these funds have hotlines that you can help out directly from your own phone! Google âabortion fund + your state (or your region) + hotlineâ and see what comes up. These hotlines are going to be SWAMPED soon and many orgs are going to be onboarding volunteers very quickly to help deal with the onslaught.
Donate to grassroots causes.Â
I love Planned Parenthood as much as the next gal, but donating to them isnât actually going to help as much right now as donating to an abortion fund. Smaller, grassroots networks are going to be more effective at allocating resources to the people who need it most. Independent clinics are also going to need substantial help. Independent clinics provide the majority of abortion care in the US, and many are the only clinics operating in hostile states. Check out https://keepourclinics.org/ if youâre interested in donating.
Make a list of resources.
There are a lot of people out there who arenât going to have the time or energy or emotional bandwidth to deal with this dumpster fire. If you have the capacity to do so, then maintain a file somewhere with the following information:
- any abortion funds that serve your area with their contact info- email and phone and links
- any abortion hotlines in your area
- national care hotlines, ESPECIALLY RAINN because this is going to be really, really hard on survivors
-a list of crisis pregnancy centers in your area, clearly marked with their names, contact info, and primary links. Make sure that these are highlighted in a way that separates them from the actual abortion providers because these centers are highly predatory and manipulate people who are distressed and confused. If somebody has access to that list and know whoâs operating in an area, it might help them avoid these places!
Have this file ready to go so that you can share it with people who are overwhelmed!
Losing Roe feels inevitable at this point. It might not be, but the world is terrifying. However, some states are safe havens and will maintain abortion access, regardless of what SCOTUS eventually decides. Practical access funds in these states will need help because they will help people traveling from unsafe states to safe states. Refer to this map: https://reproductiverights.org/maps/what-if-roe-fell/
Look for funds in states that are blue or yellow. This means they have expanded access or protection if Roe falls. But be sure to hover over and look at the summary of the protectionâ for example, Florida has abortion protection, but they just passed a 15-week ban. Thatâs basically protection in name only!
If youâre not sure which practical fund youâd like to support, I highly suggest the Midwest Access Coalition. MAC is based in Chicago and helps people from all over the Midwest come to the city for reproductive healthcare. A lot of the Midwest is really hostile to abortion, so MAC can help a lot of people. But there are many, many others!
In the coming days and weeks, there will be more to do. There will be marches, protests, and other organized action. But right now, tonight, these are things you can look into doing.
prguitarman
origamiaround
