The DC Abortion Fund has been forced to cut back its services due to budget cuts at Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation. Abortion funds pay for travel and care costs for abortion seekers, and now the national funds can only cover up to 30 percent of those costs, down from 50 percent.
That means a patient who needs $2,000 for a procedure, for example, must find a way to make up a $1,400 gap, rather than $1,000.
The budget cuts, which went into effect July 1, have left DCAF and other local abortion funds throughout the country scrambling to support the growing demand for service while covering more costs than before. As Republican-controlled states, such as Florida, Texas, and Iowa, implement abortion bans at six weeks (typically at the first sign of embryonic cardiac activity), abortion clinics in less restrictive states have seen an influx of patients traveling from out of state for care.
As a donation-based organization, DCAF operates on a weekly budget based on fundraising projections. With more costs to cover, operations have become more difficult for all local abortion funds.
DCAF is already seeing the impact. During the first week of the adjusted services, DCAF went $4,000 over budget by Tuesday. Now, everytime DCAF’s weekly budget runs out, it will immediately close its phone lines, even if the service week hasn’t ended. Active cases that are in the process of receiving funding will not be dropped, according to DCAF development director Alisha Dingus.
DCAF also provides financial aid to people who are ineligible for funding from the NAF or Planned Parenthood due to income requirements. Local funds typically have few or no eligibility requirements.
“Everyone is out of money. And there’s really nothing left for people to do,” Dingus says. “That’s the really tough reality that we’ve been trying not to talk about because we’ve been trying to be that resilience movement, where we will get people the care they need no matter what. But there’s always a limitation when the dollars run out.”
In D.C., abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy, and with 15 clinics across the metro area, it’s a popular location for out-of-state abortion seekers. Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson case that removed the constitutional right to abortion, DCAF has assisted an increasing number of patients traveling from outside of the D.C. area, according to Dingus. The number of patients grew by nearly 200 people in fiscal year 2022 and another 250 in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
DCAF is now only providing funding for patients who have appointments at clinics in the D.C. metro area. "I think it impacts people who are traveling here the most,” says Dingus. “At the end of the day, when we have to make hard decisions, we are the DC Abortion Fund.”
DCAF is scaling back its service line and intake form hours from Monday through Friday to Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s also extending its callback time from 24 to 48 hours; this is the second time this year that the fund cut its hours due to budget constraints. Some abortion funds throughout the country were forced to temporarily shut down services due to budget constraints, according to Dingus.
Dingus says DCAF caseworkers are now seeking to collaborate with other funds on fundraising efforts, especially for cases of second or third-trimester abortions, which can be more expensive. Patients who need funding for next-day or same-day appointments have increased in the past year as well, Dingus says, because patients who were not able to get appointments due to increased demand are getting called in to fill last-minute cancellations.
DCAF is funded entirely by private donations, which, according to Dingus, peaked during the months following the Dobbs decision. But they have dwindled since.
From June 2022 to June 2023, DCAF raised more than $3 million and redistributed $2.7 million—the most the fund has raised in its history. From June 2023 to June 2024, DCAF raised half of that sum, $1.8 million, and redistributed $1.6 million.
In anticipation of these cuts, DCAF allocated $50,000, courtesy of a private donor, for emergency situations such as out-of-state patients who need a third-trimester abortion. But those funds will likely only last for a few months, Dingus says.
Dingus says DCAF is currently looking for institutional support from foundations that have previously donated directly to the fund. She believes DCAF will always have a stable donor base within D.C., but says donor attention is too focused on long-term legislative aims and not enough on funding immediate access to abortion care.
“I think there’s the idea that if we work on advocacy, we do the legal strategy, we fix that, then people will be able to get their abortions,” she says. “What we always say is, if you leave access behind, none of the other stuff really matters. If people aren’t getting their abortions, they’re forced to give birth, and that for us is a failure.”