“Abortion funds like Our Justice exist specfically because policies like the Hyde Amendment make abortion financially inaccessible — every single one of the people reaching out to us for abortion funding and logistical support cannot afford to access an abortion on their own.”
“Megumi Rierson, communications director for Our Justice, a group that provides financial support for people seeking abortions, said her organization has seen requests for help climb from 241 in 2019 to more than 700 so far this year.”
“Though reproductive health advocates in Minnesota were anticipating a major challenge to Roe v. Wade, many expected it would come next year, when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, said Megumi Rierson, communications manager for Our Justice, a Twin Cities-based organization that helps pay for abortions. The court's decision early Thursday not to block the Texas law changed that calculus.”
“Emily Clingan remembers the panicked messages that started as the COVID-19 pandemic set in: Women out of work were seeking abortions and not sure how to pay for them. ‘Many people already face financial difficulty accessing abortion, and this just compounded it,’ said Clingan, who volunteers with Our Justice, a Twin Cities-based organization that runs a fund to help pay for the procedure.”
“As one of the oldest abortion funds in the Midwest, we see every day how these barriers impact people seeking abortions, and how their impacts disproportionately fall on Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, queer and trans people, and disabled people. We spend our days filling funding requests for abortion care, helping patients navigate the complicated web of insurance coverage, coordinating hotel stays and travel arrangements, and providing information on abortion laws.”
“At Just the Pill, patients fill out an online form and then have a follow-up phone call with a patient educator and a doctor, who then mails the pills to eligible patients. There are follow-up phone calls at seven days and four weeks. Just the Pill has a feminist fee structure, with a sliding scale from $0-$350 (they don’t take insurance). The difference is made up by the Minnesota abortion fund, Our Justice.”
“On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that affirms our right to safe, legal abortion access. Abortion access is an essential element of reproductive justice, and the fact that this decision comes in the midst of a global reckoning with what Black folks deserve in this world makes it especially significant. But if we only understand reproductive rights as the right to have an abortion, we make a huge mistake by forgetting that the power of collective community care is what reproductive justice is really about.”