Current:Home > NewsSome states are restricting abortion. Others are spending millions to fund it-LoTradeCoin
Some states are restricting abortion. Others are spending millions to fund it
View Date:2024-12-23 22:57:06
As a growing number of states restrict abortion, other states and some local municipalities are substantially increasing funding for abortion and other reproductive health services.
At least 15 municipal and six state governments allocated nearly $208 million to pay for contraception, abortion and support services for people seeking abortions in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to data provided to NPR by the National Institute for Reproductive Health.
That's far more than the roughly $55 million spent on similar services in the three years before the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision last June allowed abortion restrictions to take effect around the country.
"We've seen unrivaled action across states and localities at the municipal level to bolster access to reproductive healthcare, and especially around abortion, as a really immediate and direct response," NIRH President Andrea Miller said in an interview with NPR.
Money has been set aside for a variety of purposes, Miller said, including allocations for abortion funds and support networks that provide financial assistance to people struggling to pay for procedures, travel and other associated costs. California, for example, set aside $20 million to help out-of-state patients travel there for abortions; Chicago's public health department allocated $500,000 to be split between Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the Chicago Abortion Fund.
Miller said she hopes to see those kinds of organizations become less dependent on private donations.
"We're hearing from abortion funds and practical support networks that the requests they're getting are astronomical, and they are so far beyond what they've ever been before," she said.
During a recent call with reporters, Oriaku Njoku, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, said organizations in the network are "fielding more calls than ever and supporting more people than ever" while facing increasingly complex logistics as more states enact restrictions. Njoku said more callers report they are delaying abortions because of difficulties with access.
In addition to helping patients travel and pay for abortion, some states have funded efforts to expand their capacity to provide abortions for people traveling from states with bans.
"Those are states where abortion remains legal and largely accessible, and where the demand is increasing exponentially," Miller said.
New Mexico's Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, has pledged $10 million to help build a new reproductive health clinic in the state. New Jersey is providing $6 million in state loans to expand women's health clinics.
NIRH also tracks legislation designed to protect patients who travel across state lines, healthcare providers and others who assist them, from potential lawsuits or prosecution. Since the Dobbs decision, at least 11 states have passed what are known as "shield laws" designed to guard against out-of-state legal action.
veryGood! (872)
Related
- Stop What You're Doing—Moo Deng Just Dropped Her First Single
- Jennifer Aniston Shares Text From Late Friend Matthew Perry in Moving Tribute
- Chef Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana welcome their 6th child
- Colorado supermarket shooting suspect pleads not guilty by reason of insanity
- Is Kyle Richards Finally Ready to File for Divorce From Mauricio Umansky? She Says...
- Jacob Elordi calls 'The Kissing Booth' movies 'ridiculous'
- Biden announces 5 federal judicial nominees and stresses their varied professional backgrounds
- How will a federal government shutdown affect me? Disruptions hit schools, air travel, more
- Vegas Sphere reports revenue decline despite hosting UFC 306, Eagles residency
- Lease of Gulf waters delayed by whale protection debate must continue, court rules
Ranking
- MLS Star Marco Angulo Dead at 22 One Month After Car Crash
- California program to lease land under freeways faces scrutiny after major Los Angeles fire
- Inflation slowed faster than expected in October. Does that mean rate hikes are over?
- Colorado mass shooting suspect, who unleashed bullets in supermarket, pleads not guilty
- 'Climate change is real': New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes
- Rio de Janeiro mayor wants to project Taylor Swift T-shirt on Jesus Christ statue
- Venezuelan arrivals along U.S. southern border drop after Biden starts deportations
- Robin Roberts Reacts to Michael Strahan's Good Morning America Return After His Absence
Recommendation
-
Why Suits' Gabriel Macht Needed Time Away From Harvey Specter After Finale
-
A woman killed in Belgium decades ago has been identified when a relative saw her distinctive tattoo
-
Suspected serial killer faces life in prison after being convicted of 2 murders by Delaware jury
-
Dutch court orders company to compensate 5 Iranian victims of Iraqi mustard gas attacks in the 1980s
-
Quincy Jones' cause of death revealed: Reports
-
Police say a US tourist died when a catamaran carrying more than 100 people sank in the Bahamas
-
EU moves closer to imposing a new set of sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine
-
Thousands march for major Mexican LGBTQ+ figure Jesús Ociel Baena, slain after getting death threats