Abortion Pill Sustainability Fund
In a country where healthcare was available based on need and the best medical evidence, abortion pills–the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol most effective for first trimester abortion–would be sold over the counter. Abortion pills are safe, effective, relatively inexpensive, can be self-managed privately, and increasingly popular everywhere.
But we do not live in that country. Extremists have been attacking access to essential care for more than four decades, and abortion pills for over 20 years. Fourteen states now have total abortion bans, two states have passed six week bans, and several other states impose additional restrictions on abortion care. Thankfully, depending on their preferences, people can get abortion pills directly online, through local and reproductive justice groups, at clinics, and via telemedicine.
Clinicians using telemedicine to mail pills to clients into banned states are facing skyrocketing demand. While shield laws in states like California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, substantially protect these clinicians from many potential legal repercussions, they are still taking risks and also are struggling to keep up with the increasing demand..
Cumulatively, the 16 providers now offering telemedicine abortion to banned states are providing thousands of abortions per month, with demand increasingly weekly. Their deep commitments to providing care without delay on a sliding scale in states with high rates of poverty, means they personally are losing money–an average of $68.00—on each transaction. This is not sustainable.
HCAB reimburses clinicians who provide abortion pills to clients in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Seed funding has enabled us to start the fund with reimbursements to providers for a small share of what they lost in December 2023. We will continue reimbursing providers each month, but must raise funds to increase their reimbursements as well as to encourage others to join their ranks.
Your contributions will help sustain and expand this network of care into banned states into the future.