In the year since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn abortion rights, millions of people have lost access to the procedure. Most of them live in the South.
We’re the leaders of an abortion clinic in Georgia (Kwajelyn) and abortion fund in Texas (Zaena) — two states with some of the country’s strictest abortion bans. The Dobbs decision and subsequent abortion bans have severely affected our work. While we can’t provide the level of abortion care we previously offered, organizations like ours are doing everything possible to connect abortion seekers with out-of-state care, expand services to meet changing health needs, and win back basic reproductive rights.
Fulfilling these goals requires sustained activism and community organizing, but too often, the resources needed to advance reproductive justice fluctuate with the political winds. Immediately after Dobbs, reproductive-justice organizations saw a surge in gifts and donations from individuals and funders. For many, the moments immediately following the Dobbs decision felt like the right time to get involved. Unfortunately, that funding has since slowed, even while abortion seekers’ needs are ongoing, and even growing.
Those who help people find out-of-state abortions also depend on ongoing resources to keep up with changing state laws. Take Cathy Torres, who fields calls every evening at Frontera Fund’s abortion helpline in McAllen, Tex. Cathy and others on the helpline tell us that the abortion seekers they speak with are confused, scared, and desperate for information about their rights. These calls are longer than in years past, often lasting more than an hour.
Sometimes callers reach out multiple times a week, asking legal and logistical questions and getting connected to abortion providers out of state.
Despite the obstacles anti-abortion lawmakers lob at us, we need to stay open and pay our staff in order to help these callers now and maintain a strong foundation for our future. Sustaining ourselves today ensures that when abortion rights are eventually restored, our communities won’t have to rebuild from nothing. Right now, resilience means betting on our future.
Foundations, individual donors, and allies: Don’t give up on abortion rights in the South, or anywhere else. We’re still here, and we’re still fighting.
In Texas, where abortion is completely banned, we still support communities at the border even amid sweeping efforts to criminalize abortion. Following the Dobbs decision, abortion funds such as Frontera pivoted by paying for people in Texas to get abortions in neighboring states where it’s still legal.
Texas funds have also stepped up to bolster reproductive rights and equitable access to care beyond abortions, often working with other organizations. Frontera and the local Planned Parenthood affiliate, for example, have partnered to pay for and provide essential reproductive care, gender-affirming services, and cancer screenings to those in need.
In Georgia, a six-week abortion ban went into effect weeks after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which would have made nearly 90 percent of abortions performed in prior years illegal. The ruling, and others like it, disproportionately affect patients who are Black, young, or low-income.
In response, organizations such as the Feminist Women’s Health Center provide abortions up to the legal limit, while also strengthening reproductive equity in ways that won’t defy new state laws. Our organization now offers non-abortion services, including gynecological exams, gender-affirming care, and other essential reproductive services to address inequities however we can.
In the future, this could also mean expanding prenatal and postpartum services to better support pregnancy, birth, and parenting. But it’s difficult to maintain enough revenue to pay staff who have dedicated their lives to reproductive justice while also expanding our services to encompass the ever-growing needs of the community.
Emotional Toll on Staff
Across the South, and in all places where the right to an abortion is compromised, those who provide abortion care or seek to expand access are engaged in difficult but invaluable work. They manage the emotional weight of turning people away who are too late in their pregnancies to treat and face threats and harassment from the moment they enter the clinic’s parking lot. Donors must provide the funds organizations need to ensure these talented and loving people don’t leave the reproductive-health field.
Many believe the South is a lost cause. We’ve seen glib Tweets reducing Southern states to the conservative politicians that run them and have watched philanthropic dollars flow elsewhere. Some argue that funding is limited and can go further in other states with more open-minded politicians. However, funding can be deployed efficiently through investments in grassroots organizations in the South that have a deep understanding of individual communities and can address their unique needs despite local laws.
Those in the reproductive-care field must also recognize that our fates are linked. Some grant makers, such as those in the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, have responded by pooling resources and prioritizing general operating support. That allows groups such as ours to keep the lights on and provide essential services, no matter what lawmakers and courts do.
The Case for Support
It’s possible to protect and expand abortion access across the country while also defending reproductive equity in the South. Sending resources only to states where abortion is fully legal further ensures people living in 40 percent of states in this country will have limited or nonexistent abortion care — now and in the future. Consistent financial support is essential to secure long-term access to comprehensive reproductive care in Texas, Georgia, and other restricted states.
The Dobbs decision left us with one glimmer of hope: States and voters hold the future of abortion in their hands. We have the power to create a new reality in which access to abortion care isn’t dependent on race, income, sexual orientation, immigration status, or ability. We can achieve something better than Roe. But in the meantime, we need to help the people in our community who are up against systemic barriers and have no access to reproductive and gender-affirming services without organizations like ours.
Don’t give up on the South. We’re still here, and we’re still fighting.
