Structural barriers have created a deeply unequal healthcare system that blocks access to abortion care, especially for BIPoC, poor and transgender people.

Over 60% of people seeking abortions identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander and 75% are low-income. In the United States, 89% of counties have no abortion providers at all, but even geographic proximity doesn’t guarantee access when people must choose between healthcare, rent or food. Almost none have services specifically for transgender patients.

It does not have to be this way.

Reproductive justice envisions a world where everyone can access the safety, resources and services they need. A healthier, safer, and more equitable world means all pregnant people have both the right and the resources to choose what is best for them. Transgender people can access the full range of healthcare services without stigma. The medical precept of “Do No Harm” is taken seriously and crisis pregnancy centers are not allowed to compromise patient health and safety in the name of ideology.

If philanthropy is serious about creating this world, then it must play an active, public role in achieving health equity. That includes abortion access for all.

Over the next several months, NCRP will be exploring four different aspects of abortion access: Local clinics as essential frontline providers, destigmatizing care for transgender and gender expansive patients, the harmful impact of crisis pregnancy centers and the crucial role of abortion funds.

Through storytelling, resource links and data collected by NCRP staff and others, this roadmap educates grantmakers on major barriers to abortion access, brings the voices of practitioners, patients and others on the frontlines into the conversation and provides concrete action steps funders can take to support health equity through abortion access.

Read the full article about reproductive justice at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.