National Abortion Hotline Shows Demand for Travel Assistance Remains High
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2023
Contact: Ben Currey, [email protected]
The nation’s leading abortion hotline tracks travel requests pre and post-Dobbs
NATIONAL – Today, the National Abortion Federation, released data from their National Abortion Hotline that shows the increase in demand for travel assistance since the Dobbs decision overturned abortion protection in the country. The National Abortion Hotline is the leading multi-lingual abortion assistance hotline that has helped abortion seekers plan and fund their care, including for travel services like hotel rooms and plane tickets.
New data released by the National Abortion Federation shows that a year and a half after Dobbs, the demand for travel assistance by abortion seekers remains consistently high. While the National Abortion Hotline has provided funding for travel assistance even before the Dobbs decision, the requests for assistance were much more limited and focused mainly on people traveling for later care or those in Texas who had to leave the state under SB8 to access an abortion. After the Dobbs decision, the National Abortion Hotline significantly scaled its travel services to respond to the growing demand from patients for care in other states.
Veronica Jones, Chief Operating Officer of the National Abortion Federation, said:
“This new data shows that the demand for abortion care is not going away simply because it has been banned. Because of the work of anti-abortion extremists, more and more people seeking abortions are now being forced to travel to access this essential health care. The National Abortion Hotline has long supported people seeking abortion care, and following Dobbs, the cost of that support has only increased as accessing an abortion has meant additional expenses like plane tickets, hotel rooms, and child care were needed. Despite these unnecessary and discriminatory barriers, we remain committed to helping anyone, no matter their income, race, or zip code, access abortion care.
Anyone in any state can call the National Abortion Hotline at 1-800-772-9100 to understand their options and get the assistance they need, whether that’s information about a provider, arranging travel to another state, or funding their care.”
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The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the nation’s largest and leading professional association of abortion providers. NAF represents hundreds of providers and clinics across the country that are on the frontlines of abortion access. NAF provides members with trainings, security support, and guidelines that serve as the gold standard of abortion care. NAF also operates the National Abortion Hotline, the nation’s largest national, toll-free, multi-lingual hotline for abortion resources and travel and financial assistance in the U.S. Learn more at https://prochoice.org