FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2022
Contact: naf@berlinrosen.com
Statement from Veronica Jones, Chief Operating Officer at the National Abortion Federation:
The National Abortion Federation is committed to helping as many patients as possible access abortion care. Let’s be clear—any restrictions or bans on access to essential abortion care are the result of the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and violent, anti-abortion extremists across the country determined to control our bodies and take away our reproductive freedoms.
The current landscape places abortion providers in the impossible position of simultaneously navigating patient care, complex and unjust legal barriers, and moral obligations. In this post-Roe world, clinics are closing, patients are being forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, and providers are experiencing an alarming increase in anti-abortion violence. Although we have prepared for this moment, the harshness of this reality is not lost on us.
Failed to include our new post-Roe The truth in our decision making will put our staff and our entire operation at risk, ultimately leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to care. With equity as our guiding principle, we base our decisions on the need to ensure that the Hotline remains available to all, especially the most underserved and marginalized communities across the country. Those are the people who need our support most to access care, and we need to be there for them—today, tomorrow, and the day after.
As more states enact strict abortion bans, our Hotline has become an increasingly important part of the nation’s abortion care infrastructure, connecting people seeking abortions with the funding, travel logistics and guidance they need to receive safe and timely care.
The recently updated funding guidelines of our Medication Abortion Hotline ensure that as many people as possible can continue to access care, and support providers and patients in the process. Under the guidelines, the Hotline funds medication abortions where the provider certifies that the patient can take the medication onsite at the facility or certifies that they will take it in the same state as the facility or in another state that allows abortion at the point of pregnancy where they access care.
The NAF Hotline is also ready and able to provide additional travel assistance to patients who may require it under these guidelines. At the same time, NAF continues to offer our member providers an array of resources that strengthen their ability to provide science-backed, evidence-based care, even while complying with strict laws designed to stop -access to this important care in full.
Ever since the fall of Roethe NAF Hotline has provided financial support for more than 10,700 abortion procedures. So far in 2022, NAF is funding more than 70,000 abortion procedures, compared to over 63,000 during the same period last year.
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