For decades, activists have warned that this moment was coming — the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade.
Those of us who work to expand access to reproductive care in our communities have long recognized that the demise of legal abortions in America would likely start at the state level. And so it did last week, when Texas banned all abortions after six weeks, effectively ending the procedure in that state. The law, which the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block, allows individuals to sue Texas abortion providers or others who help a patient seeking the procedure — and receive a $10,000 bounty for their efforts.
Texas is a stark reminder that federal legal protections have never been enough for the thousands of Americans who lack access to abortion, as well as countless others routinely shamed, stigmatized, and coerced when it comes to their reproductive decisions. Even the term “choice” is a misnomer. For decades, reproductive-justice organizations have urged us to look beyond the legality of abortion and focus on the conditions needed to ensure true reproductive justice.
The path forward for philanthropy is clear. Investing in state and local movements is the surest way to both help those who need reproductive health services and enact long-term policy change. The need is urgent. Beyond Texas, 23 states are poised to lose access to abortion as early as next June if the Supreme Court rules in favor of a Mississippi law that could upend Roe.
Unfortunately, after years of focusing on stalemated federal legislation and failed court battles, the reproductive-rights movement has neglected one of its most valuable assets: local community advocates. Funding is overconcentrated on large national organizations working at the federal level — an imbalance that has left groups on the ground dangerously underfunded.
Even our organization — Naral Pro-Choice America — has embraced this problematic pattern. Its new five-year strategy includes the elimination of state affiliates like ours in Washington State and Oregon in favor of a single, centralized institution. The most concerning part of this decision is the assumption that state-based work can continue unabated. Such thinking ignores the decades of personal relationship building required to pass legislation that reflects community needs.
Grassroots advocacy and justice organizations hold the playbook for restoring access to abortion in America after Roe. But we cannot do it alone, and we cannot do it while chronically underfunded. Small nonprofits have existed in an unhealthy — and false — environment of perceived scarcity for far too long. But there is no actual shortage of resources, just a hesitancy to spend those resources on local organizations working on abortion and reproductive justice and advocacy.
The first step is clear. Those who have already lost, or will soon lose, access to abortion care need help now. In Texas, that means immediately increasing funding to local abortion funds, such as Jane’s Due Process, Fund Texas Choice, and The Lilith Fund, among others.
We appreciate that some companies, such as large dating apps, are creating their own relief funds for those seeking abortions in Texas. But local abortion funds already have the infrastructure in place to provide such support. We don’t need to re-create the wheel. We just need to give local abortion funds the resources to support the estimated 25 million women and trans and/or nonbinary people of reproductive age who will lose access if Roe is overturned.
Second, we need to look to local expertise to identify and work toward permanent solutions. We are about to transition from abortion being litigated in federal courts to a 50-state struggle within state capitols. To have a chance at protecting abortion access, our strategies must be driven by well-funded state and local organizations that can work collaboratively across regions and diverse social movements.
More Investment Needed
Most immediately, more investment is needed to expand the number of abortion providers in states where the procedure will remain legal even if Roe is overturned. And we need to establish new abortion safe havens by repealing restrictions and codifying access to the procedure in battleground states, such as Ohio and Florida.
Even in states with legal protection for abortion, it may take only one vote in a state legislature to turn back progress and to undermine access for thousands. While local legislative victories often go unnoticed, some of the more important expansions of reproductive health access have come at the state level after years of listening and trust-building within communities. These include innovations such as ensuring abortion care regardless of a person’s immigration status or gender identity, and protecting pregnant people from harm stemming from a hospital’s religious policies and practices.
Tactics Must Shift
Reproductive rights are certainly not the only progressive issue under threat in conservative-led states. Successful state efforts to restrict voting rights are a reminder that funding national organizations is insufficient. Conservative groups have pivoted to focus on hyperlocal elections and state courts and have invested in multiyear grassroots movements. We need to shift our tactics as well, or we will continue to play catch-up.
We understand that building relationships with and providing grants to smaller local organizations may be time and resource intensive for philanthropic organizations. We recognize the internal barriers to decision making, but we implore you: Give to organizations that are doing the work, who know their communities, and who have built trust over decades.
Funding of this type must be granted over multiple years and given without the stipulations that make it too costly to accept contributions or that derail community-informed approaches. Philanthropy must overcome the long-held bias that small, community-based organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color are somehow less capable stewards of resources. It is time to trust the doers and to be partners in the building of local reproductive-rights movements.
The challenges ahead will require us to embrace new strategies, build more inclusive coalitions, and elevate the voices of those who stand to lose the most in a post-Roe America. For once and for all, we need to do away with the false narrative that abortion is a controversial, political, or fringe issue. Most of us know and love someone who made the decision to have an abortion. We need to do whatever it takes to ensure that right remains regardless of actions taken by the Supreme Court in the months ahead.
