@@Abortion support resources

[wanderingback]

Maybe this post could be made sticky for a bit pixy0stix?
Sorry so long!!

I've been working in this space for many years, so these are obviously just my opinion, but here they are.
1) Please stop with talking about an "abortion underground" or "the handmaid's tale" and "coat hangers." Not helpful and damaging and offensive language.

2) The people who will most be affected by these laws are people who already experience racism and bias in the healthcare system, so always remember that before centering yourself if you aren't one of those people (this country was founded on white supremacy and these laws follow that premise). Those people include Black people, Hispanic people, immigrants, poor people, non-english speaking people, LGBTQ people, teens. (list not exclusive).

3) Unfortunately, abortion access has been in the shitter for many many years, so if you think you have a great idea about how to help, that idea is probably already out there. Support people and organizations (especially Black lead and/or grassroots community) that have been doing this work for years to decades.

4) Planned parenthood doesn't need your money. There are groups of "anonymous" funders/donors that are made up of rich millionaires and billionaires that have been and continue to give to PP and other large predominantly white organizations like NARAL, guttmacher, etc. Support resources I'm going to post below.

5) Unless you are a lawyer that studies this stuff, please don't spread misinformation that you heard. There is already mass confusion, so please don't add to it so that people aren't confused about the care they can get. Things are rapidly evolving. This is a marathon not a sprint.

6) If you want to support with housing, transportation, etc please go through vetted practical support organizations, we need to keep people safe and they already have the vetting processes in place (see resource below)

7) Medication abortion pills are effective at any weight. Mifepristone and misoprostol shelf life is a few years in a stable environment. (See info below about self managing an abortion).

8) There are a few options for emergency contraception. The most effective and effective at any weight are IUDs (either the copper one or levonorgestrel 52mcg ones - mirena or liletta). They have to be inserted within 5 days after sex without a condom, but are almost 100% effective at preventing pregnancy. The next most effective option for patients below 195 pounds is Ella, but it requires a prescription. Can be taken up to 5 days after sex without a condom but the sooner it’s taken the better. Lastly, plan B (can be bought over the counter) which can be effective for people up to 160, must be taken within 3 days of sex without a condom. Unfortunately doubling the dose of plan B for people over 160 pounds does not seem to increase its effectiveness.


Practical ways to help/spread legit info:

-Spread the word about self-managed abortion and how people can obtain pills to have a medically safe medication abortion at home. Yes this is can be legally risky (see more resources about), but medically safe for pregnancies (including above 13 weeks of pregnancy). Some information to learn more: abortiononourownterms.org/ and www.wetestify.org/self-managed-abortion and www.howtouseabortionpill.org/about/

-To find a list of vetted pharmacies that continue to send pills to people in the US go here - www.plancpills.org/

-Another resource for pills in the US - aidaccess.org/

- For people with legal questions about abortion and self managed abortion - www.reprolegalhelpline.org/

- For people with medical questions about taking pills after they receive them or medical questions about abortion in general (call/text line staffed by volunteer doctors and clinicians) - www.mahotline.org/

-For people who need bail funds or lawyers if they get arrested for pregnancy outcomes and abortion care (has been happening for years unfortunately) - reprolegaldefensefund.org/

-For information about local practical support funds (housing, childcare, transportation, etc) - apiaryps.org/

-For local abortion funds (to donate and/or volunteer, they have always been overwhelmed and continue to be so, often many are volunteer) - abortionfunds.org/

-For people who need emotional support after their abortions - exhaleprovoice.org/

-For people who need nonjudgemental support about what to do about a pregancy (parent, adopt, abortion) - www.all-options.org/

-To support independent clinics (non-Planned parenthoods) that provide most of the abortion care in this country - keepourclinics.org/

-To donate to a few groups that are helping people access care by pills/self managing - www.pledge.to/access

And most of the organizations above have individual donate buttons as well.

ETA: If you are a healthcare provider or work in health care (nurse, social worker, etc) please spread the word that you are not under any obligation to report an abortion, pregnancy outcome or self managed abortion to the police. Take care of patients in an ethical manner and don’t call the police on people.

[redheadbaker]

May I share this (all or part) on Facebook?

[jinkies]

You are an incredible resource to your community and to this group. Thank you for sharing this.

[estrellita]

Thank you so much for this!

And also, I can't believe we need this 😭

[underwaterrhymes]

Thank you so much, wanderingback.

[wanderingback]

Jun 25, 2022 10:12:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

May I share this (all or part) on Facebook?

Yes

[wanderingback]

Jun 25, 2022 10:59:55 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Thank you so much for this!

And also, I can't believe we need this 😭

I can. We’ve been preparing for this for years. Hence, why all these organizations and supports have been around for awhile.
TX has been living in a "post Roe" world since September.

[estrellita]

Jun 25, 2022 12:20:19 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 25, 2022 10:59:55 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Thank you so much for this!

And also, I can't believe we need this 😭

I can. We’ve been preparing for this for years. Hence, why all these organizations and supports have been around for awhile.
TX has been living in a "post Roe" world since September.

Good point. Just makes me sad that this is where we're at.

[bronxgirl]

Thank you so much for this post, wanderingback. This information is invaluable. I'm going to share this with my colleagues for any patients we have who may be in need of any of the resources you mentioned. And most importantly, THANK YOU and your colleagues for the brave and important work you do every day.

[sonrisa]

Jun 25, 2022 10:09:35 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

 if you think you have a great idea about how to help, that idea is probably already out there. Support people and organizations (especially Black lead and/or grassroots community) that have been doing this work

Along those lines - do you know who is already doing" the thing I've thought of"?

I feel like one emergency step would be for the medical boards of the states bordering trigger law states to grant emergency licensing reciprocity for practitioners to practice within their borders to help meet the surge in demand. I know in law you can sometimes get permission to appear/practice in a court of another jurisdiction. I don't know if there are similar existing provisions for doctors that could be ramped up now.

Do you know of if any states are taking those steps and if so there are organizations working on that? And if any need people to help fill out paperwork or otherwise assist? It seems like something that may have a surge in demand and those of us with paperwork experience might sign up to get training/do remote work to help.

This may not be a thing, (for all sorts of licensing reasons) but if it is, You might know and I'd love to help. 

[wanderingback]

Jun 25, 2022 18:43:21 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Jun 25, 2022 10:09:35 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

 if you think you have a great idea about how to help, that idea is probably already out there. Support people and organizations (especially Black lead and/or grassroots community) that have been doing this work

Along those lines - do you know who is already doing" the thing I've thought of"?

I feel like one emergency step would be for the medical boards of the states bordering trigger law states to grant emergency licensing reciprocity for practitioners to practice within their borders to help meet the surge in demand. I know in law you can sometimes get permission to appear/practice in a court of another jurisdiction. I don't know if there are similar existing provisions for doctors that could be ramped up now.

Do you know of if any states are taking those steps and if so there are organizations working on that? And if any need people to help fill out paperwork or otherwise assist? It seems like something that may have a surge in demand and those of us with paperwork experience might sign up to get training/do remote work to help.

This may not be a thing, (for all sorts of licensing reasons) but if it is, You might know and I'd love to help. 

Many abortion providers are already licensed in multiple states (I’m licensed in 2). As far as capacity goes, it’s not just about the need for clinicians, you need the rest of the staff to run clinics. There are some new clinics opening in "safe" states and some have moved over the border, which is obviously not cheap. The bottle neck to abortion services is not with the clinical providers. It’s with the staff and all the other expenses that go along with it. I think we definitely need a more diverse abortion provider work force, but I don’t think there’s a need for more people to be licensed in multiple states to help with what’s to come since many of us already are and many have been providing care in more than 1 state.

ETA: I also know a few doctors that provide abortion care that pre-emptively moved from states that had trigger laws within the past several months since we already knew what was going to happen. So they’re now already established in safe states.

[Pibs]

I'm turning 40 tomorrow and I'm going to do one of those Facebook raiser things because legalizing gay marriage was a much, much better birthday present than this shit ruling. Who should I set the fundraiser up for? I don't have the bandwidth to research.

[audette]

Jun 25, 2022 20:58:06 GMT -5 Pibs said:

I'm turning 40 tomorrow and I'm going to do one of those Facebook raiser things because legalizing gay marriage was a much, much better birthday present than this shit ruling. Who should I set the fundraiser up for? I don't have the bandwidth to research.

abortionfunds.org/

Or, their donation link: donate.abortionfunds.org/give/323375/?fbclid=IwAR221JW6FhkMGc3bhnAB1wwOO40ZzNOZz0gdm4_icfZDvVFKNeRa7OBTZe0#!/donation/checkout


It's one of the groups WanderingBack mentions in her OP here, and a buddy looked it up earlier today with Charity Navigator - quoting her: "Charity Navigator gave it a "Give With Confidence" 82/100."

[Pibs]

Jun 25, 2022 21:15:40 GMT -5 audette said:

Jun 25, 2022 20:58:06 GMT -5 Pibs said:

I'm turning 40 tomorrow and I'm going to do one of those Facebook raiser things because legalizing gay marriage was a much, much better birthday present than this shit ruling. Who should I set the fundraiser up for? I don't have the bandwidth to research.

abortionfunds.org/

Or, their donation link: donate.abortionfunds.org/give/323375/?fbclid=IwAR221JW6FhkMGc3bhnAB1wwOO40ZzNOZz0gdm4_icfZDvVFKNeRa7OBTZe0#!/donation/checkout


It's one of the groups WanderingBack mentions in her OP here, and a buddy looked it up earlier today with Charity Navigator - quoting her: "Charity Navigator gave it a "Give With Confidence" 82/100."

Thank you so much. <3 I tried to read through everything but I haven't hit my ugly cry point yet and can't fully process everything.

[Jalapeñomel]

THANK YOU. And thank you for the work you do.

[sonrisa]

Jun 25, 2022 20:35:04 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 25, 2022 18:43:21 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Along those lines - do you know who is already doing" the thing I've thought of"?

I feel like one emergency step would be for the medical boards of the states bordering trigger law states to grant emergency licensing reciprocity for practitioners to practice within their borders to help meet the surge in demand. I know in law you can sometimes get permission to appear/practice in a court of another jurisdiction. I don't know if there are similar existing provisions for doctors that could be ramped up now.

Do you know of if any states are taking those steps and if so there are organizations working on that? And if any need people to help fill out paperwork or otherwise assist? It seems like something that may have a surge in demand and those of us with paperwork experience might sign up to get training/do remote work to help.

This may not be a thing, (for all sorts of licensing reasons) but if it is, You might know and I'd love to help. 

Many abortion providers are already licensed in multiple states (I’m licensed in 2). As far as capacity goes, it’s not just about the need for clinicians, you need the rest of the staff to run clinics. There are some new clinics opening in "safe" states and some have moved over the border, which is obviously not cheap. The bottle neck to abortion services is not with the clinical providers. It’s with the staff and all the other expenses that go along with it. I think we definitely need a more diverse abortion provider work force, but I don’t think there’s a need for more people to be licensed in multiple states to help with what’s to come since many of us already are and many have been providing care in more than 1 state.

ETA: I also know a few doctors that provide abortion care that pre-emptively moved from states that had trigger laws within the past several months since we already knew what was going to happen. So they’re now already established in safe states.

Thanks. A lot of shitty legal changes lately have needed unpaid people to slog through paperwork. it sounds like that isn't the case here.

[susiebw]

Thank you for this post and for all of the work that you do!

[picksthemusic]

This is much appreciated, and unfortunately sorely needed information. Thank you for all you do!

[sometimesrunner]

Thank you so much for putting this together. We are very lucky to have you here!

[Poeticxpassion]

Thank you for all the work you do.

[wanderingback]

Just in case it needs to be said, please do not call or even email these hotlines/resources right now. Everyone is extremely busy and calls from reporters and people asking how they can volunteer are not helping. Leave the phones and emails open for people who really need support.

[wanderingback]

Here are 2 specific volunteer opportunities:

An all day training on abortion activism & steps you can take - www.aafront.org/operation-save-abortion/

A volunteer training to be a digital clinic escort - airtable.com/shrYRQHpm6wD6mBFJ

Both of these opportunities are with orgs and people I’ve worked with so I vouch that they are legit.

[underwaterrhymes]

Thanks, wanderingback. I signed up for both.

[sonrisa]

Jul 1, 2022 21:49:54 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Both of these opportunities are with orgs and people I’ve worked with so I vouch that they are legit.

Thank you!  Your vetting is invaluable. 

[pixy0stix]

I found myself having to reference this post today. Thanks for putting it together, wanderingback

[wanderingback]

Sept 14, 2022 9:20:58 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I found myself having to reference this post today. Thanks for putting it together, wanderingback

No problem!
I've actually been meaning to update it since obviously things are going to be continuing to be a shit show :/

[RockNVoll]

wanderingback, just wanted to say thanks again for this post. Doing my donations today and am shifting my dollars from PP to a couple of the organizations you mentioned. Super helpful to have your expertise and perspective on this, thank you.

[wanderingback]

Dec 26, 2022 19:06:19 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

wanderingback, just wanted to say thanks again for this post. Doing my donations today and am shifting my dollars from PP to a couple of the organizations you mentioned. Super helpful to have your expertise and perspective on this, thank you.

Yay so happy to hear that.
I keep meaning to update this post since things remain a shit show, just like I mentioned 3 months ago :/
2023 goal…

[RockNVoll]

Dec 26, 2022 21:49:59 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Dec 26, 2022 19:06:19 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

wanderingback , just wanted to say thanks again for this post. Doing my donations today and am shifting my dollars from PP to a couple of the organizations you mentioned. Super helpful to have your expertise and perspective on this, thank you.

Yay so happy to hear that.
I keep meaning to update this post since things remain a shit show, just like I mentioned 3 months ago :/
2023 goal…

LOL, I'm sure you've been a bit busy given work, holidays and, oh, a newborn!

[wanderingback]

All the Info/links in this post are definitely still relevant.
If there are any direct action things to support over the coming months I’ll try to post them.