We Rise to Resist by Paula vW. Dáil

Author:Paula vW. Dáil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2018-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Ten Months Later

A Retrospective from the Front Lines of Reproductive Justice

Heather K. Sager, Esq.1

No one makes the decision to have an abortion lightly. However, ultimately obtaining an abortion is the legal right of any person who is capable of becoming pregnant,2 and therefore it must also be accessible. Despite the fact that, during the past half-century, abortion has been treated as a political issue, it is a form of medical care, and decision-making about it should be left between a pregnant person and their doctor.

That is what I believe. And, for the past three years, I have been incredibly proud to serve on the board of directors for the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF). This narrowly focused organization addresses the financial needs of those who are not able to afford reproductive health care. As an abortion access fund, we play a specific role in the movement for reproductive justice: simply put, we help people who cannot afford the cost of an abortion. It’s a simple mission with a heavy impact: we ensure that people are able to pay for the procedure that they need and are entitled to receive.

Working with an abortion access fund offers a unique perspective on the ground floor of the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement. Every day we speak with people who are seeking our help and we listen to their stories. And while each client’s situation is unique, every person who contacts us has one thing in common: an inability to access and/or afford he reproductive healthcare they need.

Frequently, we serve those living in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Connecticut, who must travel to New York because there is no closer clinic available to them. Often, these are people who are just starting new jobs, moving, or who are already mothers and have decided their family is complete. Sometimes, it’s families who are facing medical issues with a wanted pregnancy and the legal limitations on reproductive health in their state mean they will be forced to travel to obtain the care their doctor recommends. I have spoken with people who have come from far away, are struggling to find a place to sleep that night and cannot fathom navigating a complicated and alien medical system in an unfamiliar city. “Tye” is one such example:

Tye was a Georgia resident and mother of three. When she contacted NYAAF she said that, as a 40-year-old, menopause came to mind before pregnancy. Her health insurance policy covered the abortion procedure, and so she made an appointment. Everything was going well until the doctors performed the sonogram and told her that she was beyond Georgia’s gestational limit—Tye was 21 weeks, and the law banned the procedure past 20 weeks.

The public had only recently been informed of the state’s new gestational limit law—which had been prevented from taking effect due to a now-lifted court injunction. She was given a list of states that would permit the procedure and told to find a provider. In the story she shared with us, she explained that it was a very traumatizing experience for her.

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