NYC includes abortion funding in its city budget

Even with what seems like a relentless series of attacks on abortion access in the US, there are still moments of genuinely good news – like New York City’s recent decision to set aside $250,000 in the city budget for abortion care.

A quarter-million dollars is just a drop in the bucket of NYC’s $92.8 billion budget, but it will make a huge difference to the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), which will receive the funding directly from the city. NYAAF, which provides financial help and connections to other resources to people who live in or travel to New York for an abortion, will be able to help 500 additional people who cannot afford the full price of the procedure because they either don’t have insurance coverage or their insurance doesn’t cover abortion.

This is also a huge symbolic statement, because it’s the first time a US city has carved out funding specifically and exclusively for abortion care. NYC does provide funding to Planned Parenthood, and the city’s hospitals perform abortions, but both of those budget items also cover other health care services as well.

We’d love to see voters pressure other cities to follow the example of “the greatest city in the world.” In the meantime, there are two things you can do right now to help make abortions available to anyone who wants them: support abortion funds that help people get to clinics, and share the information about self-managed abortion with pills at AbortionPillInfo.org for people who don’t want to or can’t travel for abortion care.