Women seeking abortions turn to volunteer network for help
The work of a nationwide network of volunteers and nonprofit groups that assist women trying to end unwanted pregnancies has reemerged as new state restrictions on abortion threaten to force women to travel farther, pay more and wait longer for the procedure.
The groups, which help with the cost and logistics of travel, lodging, food, child care and the abortion procedure itself, say they’re working harder and spending more. They’ve also seen an increase in donations for aid to the low-income women who have three-quarters of U.S. abortions and who are most of their clients.
Leah Greenblum, founder of one of the groups, the Midwest Access Coalition, said her group will aid 240 to 360 women this year, up from 185 in 2018 and compared with just 35 for all of 2015.
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For some, the need for stepped-up help is an unwelcome reminder of the efforts of groups such as the Jane Collective, which covertly assisted women seeking abortions before the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized them.
“It’s the present,” said Yamani Hernandez, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds. “And it’s going to continue to be the present until we see some radical change.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/women-seeking-abortions-turn-to-volunteer-network-for-help/2019/06/11/1b64c8a4-8890-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html?utm_term=.ea81e019ffd2
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