While the economic climate has proven challenging for many of us, its impact has been deepest among low-income women and families. Many have lost jobs and benefits or make just enough that they do not qualify for public assistance. These women count on NYAAF and NYAAF counts on you.

Melissa is 26 years old. She has a husband serving in the U.S. military overseas and a young daughter with numerous special health care needs. When they learned that she was pregnant, Melissa and her husband considered their limited resources and decided to seek an abortion. The ban on federal funding for abortion meant that this basic medical service was not covered. Melissa managed to raise half of the cost of her procedure by delaying paying non-essential bills. NYAAF pledged the other half.

Erika is a 19-year-old college student with an infant. Her boyfriend had recently been laid off, leaving their family uninsured. She called NYAAF for help when her family refused to offer assistance. She’d saved $100 dollars from her student loan check. NYAAF pledged the remaining $250 and Erika received the abortion care she needed.

These are just two of the 250 women that NYAAF was able to help last year. The women that we serve are diverse in age, background, family status and race/ethnicity. They are united by the fact that, while they live in a country where abortion is safe and legal, for many it is not accessible without financial assistance.

Without NYAAF, low-income women across New York State will fall through the cracks. We help them find and access safe and affordable abortion services and we negotiate directly with clinics to offer discounted services.

This holiday season, we thank you for your past support and invite you to help us ensure that abortion is safe, legal, accessible, and funded. One-hundred percent of your tax-deductible donation directly supports low-income women’s abortions.

With gratitude,

The NYAAF Board of Directors

167 Spring St, New York, NY (Near the A/C/E, N/R, B/D/F/M)
Saturday, November 12
12 – 1pm, VIP Happy Hour (two cocktails, first access to items), suggested donation of $40
1 – 3pm, General admission, $20 suggested donation

Click here for more information.

I was twenty years old last summer when I found out I was pregnant. About to enter my senior year of college with no interest in having a child, in a relationship with someone who most certainly wasn’t ready to be a parent and who had very little money, the choice was obvious. Though I have my fair share of miserable pregnancy stories (namely, ones of vomiting), when I think about last summer, I am mostly struck by how fortunate I was in my experiences.

One of my closest friends had become pregnant, and had an abortion, a few months prior. Thanks to her, I was able to find an amazing private practice close to where I lived. When I first called them, I was stunned by how patient, un-biased, and helpful the employees were in explaining my options and listening to my story. They gave me a discount on the procedure because I was a full-time student. My partner at the time was even allowed to be in the room with me when I had the abortion. Because I come from a financially stable family and worked the entire time I was in school, I was able to pay for the procedure out of my own pocket without any assistance, and without putting myself in a precarious position. If I hadn’t had enough money, I know my family would have helped me out. Even better, I have insurance, and the company fully reimbursed me for the abortion.

But what if things had been different? After all, my partner did not and could not contribute any money at all. I could very easily have been born to anti-choice parents, or to parents who couldn’t have helped me if I needed extra money. I could have been uninsured, or my insurance company could have not covered abortion. I could have not had enough money to pay for the procedure myself – a position that SO many women are in. A week ago, I found out a friend of mine was pregnant and uninsured, and the man who got her pregnant doesn’t have enough money to help pay for the abortion right now. I’m referring her to the New York Abortion Access Fund.

Though I made the right decision for myself quickly and with no regrets, that doesn’t lessen the blow of what I’ve been through. And it would have been infinitely more stressful if I didn’t have enough money. No woman should be prevented from making her own choices about her body and about parenthood, but unfortunately, income DOES prevent some women from being able to make the decision that they feel is best. Which is why an organization like the New York Abortion Access Fund is so important – had just one or two things in my life been different, there’s a good chance I would have had to turn to NYAAF for some help. Being one step away from that put into perspective just how valuable their work is , which is why I’m sharing this, and why I’m going to start doing volunteer work for them.

Every woman deserves full access to healthcare, and to be in control over her own life. We need to support the groups like NYAAF that help make that a reality.

Aiyana lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. You can contact her at toomanyvowels@gmail.com.

It has been a tough year for the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF). The nationwide economic downturn and upsurge in unemployed and uninsured Americans have lead to a rise in demand for our services. More and more we are getting calls not just from clinics, but directly from women asking for help to pay for an abortion.

This increase in the numbers and types of requests we receive means we are reaching a wider population of women and families than ever before. It also requires more time and effort. Our all-volunteer board is stretched thin responding to requests for funding, referring women to clinics that can serve them and negotiating with those clinics to provide the most timely and affordable services possible.

The women NYAAF serves are ones who might otherwise slip through the cracks, including those who make just a little too much to qualify for public assistance, who do not qualify due to immigration status, who live in states that do not help cover the cost of abortion, or who face emergency situations that do not leave them enough time to apply for government help.

The emergencies, of course, are the most expensive. Last month, we helped a fifteen-year-old rape victim pay for a procedure that required hospital treatment. Arranging for her care took more than ten phone calls, countless emails and hours of negotiation. We contacted every known source of abortion funding for which this young woman qualified and every time heard the same message: we are out of money, please call back later. In the end, the doctor involved in the case waived the usual fee and NYAAF agreed to pay the remaining hospital costs: $4000. We were able to make that pledge and save that young woman?s life because we had the funds on hand and a mechanism in place to get them quickly to where they needed to go. But that pledge nearly drained our remaining 2009 budget, and in order to meet the demand for our assistance in 2010, we need your help.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to NYAAF to help us face the challenges of the coming year. The obstacles are only increasing: We lost a hero this year, Dr. George Tiller, whose murder in August has left us with few places to turn when a woman comes to us in need of a later-term procedure. On top of this, the ongoing healthcare debate in Congress may carry with it new restrictions on abortion funding, thus increasing the need for our fund. NYAAF is an all-volunteer organization, which means that 100% of your tax-deductible contribution goes directly to women in need. Even small amounts can make a huge difference in the lives of the women we help. Give online now at www.nyaaf.org or send a check to:

New York Abortion Access Fund
FDR Station, Box 7569
New York, NY 10150

Thank you for helping to ensure access to abortion services for all women!

Sincerely,

Lauren Alexander
On behalf of the New York Abortion Access Fund

Thanks

NYAAF Board

Abortion Funding and Social Justice: A Perspective from Mexico

Please join The Center for Reproductive Rights, the Guttmacher Institute, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, New York Abortion Access Fund and Ipas for a special event with Eugenia López Uribe, a Mexican activist and coordinator of the MARIA Abortion Fund for Social Justice.

Ms. López is on a speaking tour of the U.S. from Mexico, where she advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people.

In her work with the MARIA fund, she helps Mexican women access safe, legal abortion and defends the right to abortion in Mexico.  Ms. López will talk about the liberalization of the abortion law in Mexico City and the critical role of funding for women to exercise their right to abortion.

Tuesday, November 10 at 6:30 pm

The Center for Reproductive Rights

120 Wall Street, 14th Floor, New York

Please RSVP by November 9^th by contacting Yasmine at yasmine@latinainstitute.org or 212-422-2553.

Dear everyone,