There are no women

The Nation (the magazine) is such misogynist garbage. Long piece on abortion; women not mentioned once.

There is an alarming disconnect between the agenda of our most powerful organizations and the real needs of abortion seekers and providers on the ground.

Local abortion funds from across the country are eager to share their perspectives and expertise on the challenges of funding abortion in their area, and the frustrations that are brought on by the failure of national reproductive health, rights, and access organizations to attend to the needs of so many pregnant people on the ground.

Abortion funds created a bridge between the theoretical right to an abortion and the real-world ability to access that right for the most marginalized…Unlike national funds, most local funds have no client requirements or restrictions–such as around gestational age or income–and trust the people who seek their help as the experts in their own lives.

Since the Dobbs decision, and subsequent enforcement of extremely restrictive state laws, local funds have used their decades-long expertise, deep relationships, and infrastructure to collectively meet this moment of crisis and support the growing number of people struggling to access abortion…While the expenses, misinformation, and fear tactics continue to rise, local abortion funds have doubled down on their commitment to supporting their callers, no matter what.

In June, for instance, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) announced that it would be cutting back on the amount it gives people who qualify for its financial assistance program. Where the NAF previously paid for 50 percent of the cost of care, it will now pay for just 30 percent, with no exceptions for exceptionally high abortion prices later in pregnancy. For example, an abortion seeker in Nevada who qualifies for NAF assistance will now be responsible for $1,330 of their $1,900 procedure.

The choice of these well-funded, national organizations to drastically deprioritize their assistance will be felt by abortion seekers

This statement is not only incorrect but an erasure of the work of local abortion funds that have been coordinating access for individuals across the country despite increasingly hostile conditions.

Reproductive freedom is a fundamental human right, and people cannot and will not wait for laws to change—especially over the course of a decade—to exercise that right. In communities like those supported by abortion funds across the country, the work of reproductive freedom is already happening. Without prioritizing material support for abortion seekers, we are putting pregnant people at risk and failing to live up to our movement’s mandate.

Without the ability of those at the grassroots to sustainably do their work, the already fragile abortion access landscape is at risk, and abortion seekers are positioned to lose the most. Now is not the time to put policy advocacy and wealth hoarding over material support. Now is the time to dig deeper into the work that is happening in our communities.

In order to most directly support abortion seekers nowdonate directly to your local abortion fund to ensure that your donation gets to abortion seekers, and realizes abortion access right NOW.

Contortion after contortion after contortion, all to avoid saying the filthy word “women.”

Despicable.

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