FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Bonyen Lee-Gilmore
NAF calls on allies to support abortion access throughout pregnancy, reject viability limits and arbitrary gestation-based abortion bans
NATIONWIDE – Today, on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) released its first policy position since Roe v. Wade was overturned, affirming abortion access throughout pregnancy and opposing viability limits and arbitrary gestation-based bans.
NAF’s new policy position comes as recent research shows people who need abortion care in a post-Dobbs era are traveling farther, paying more, and getting pushed later into pregnancy. NAF represents hundreds of individual and hospital-based abortion providers and clinics who continue to care for patients amidst worsening maternal mortality, pregnancy criminalization, forced medical interventions, family policing, and mounting barriers to timely care. This is the domino effect of bans and restrictions, including viability and gestational limits.
Brittany Fonteno, President and CEO, National Abortion Federation:
“Since the fall of Roe, politicians are increasingly weaponizing the issue of abortion to advance control over women and pregnant people — forcing them to stay pregnant and finding ways to punish them when they don’t. While anti-abortion extremism pushes the boundaries of make-believe in medicine — animating fetuses, embryos, and zygotes — NAF will continue to fight to ensure the laws of our land respect evidence-based care for women and pregnant people. It’s time to be explicit: we must resist the political compromise of viability and arbitrary gestational limits. People deserve abortion access throughout pregnancy, without government interference or fear of punishment.”
Research shows that patients seek abortion care throughout pregnancy for two common reasons: they learn new information and/or they face barriers that delay their care. New information can include discovering a pregnancy after a legal limit, a fetal diagnosis, a loss of a job or spouse, or any other life-changing circumstance. Some face delays because of abortion bans, restrictions, travel costs, childcare needs, the need to take time off work, or long wait times for appointments. These are the complex and human realities that do not follow legal timelines.
Legal restrictions and bans like viability and gestation-based limits also create dangerous environments for providers and patients. Abortion bans require enforcement, which disproportionately impacts people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and people with low incomes who already face a heightened risk of policing and surveillance. These same communities also face the greatest barriers to accessing affordable and timely health care.
As the nation’s leading professional membership organization for abortion providers, NAF calls on policymakers, movement partners, and allies to support abortion laws rooted in evidence, bodily autonomy, and the lived realities of patients and providers.
NAF’s new policy position affirming abortion access throughout pregnancy is supported by Physicians for Reproductive Health.
Joint statement from the National Abortion Federation and Physicians for Reproductive Health on the fourth anniversary of the Dobbs decision:
“As leading voices for abortion providers nationwide, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH) know the escalating harms of abortion bans and restrictions since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade four years ago. Supporting abortion patients and providers means our advocacy must challenge the long-standing legal abortion limits that enable police violence, surveillance, forced medical interventions, and pregnancy criminalization.
“This moment demands a new era of abortion advocacy, one that understands viability and gestational limits are common and equally harmful forms of abortion bans. When laws regulating abortion care include arbitrary legal limits, politicians and police are invited into exam rooms, advancing control over pregnant people — forcing them to stay pregnant and finding ways to punish them when they don’t.
“Patients know what’s best for themselves and their families. When people can access abortion care throughout pregnancy, families and communities thrive. No matter when someone needs abortion care, they should be able to access that care with expert medical attention, in their community. If we aim to build a world where patients can get the care they need, when they need it, without bodily harm including criminalization, we must call for evidence-based policies that protect abortion access without arbitrary viability or gestation-based restrictions.”
To learn more, read NAF’s full Policy Position Affirming Abortion Access Throughout Pregnancy and PRH’s Policy Primer on Abortion Later in Pregnancy.
For questions or to set up an interview with a NAF leader or abortion provider, please reach out to blee-gilmore@nationalabortionfederation.org
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The National Abortion Federation 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 helping people access abortion care. They provide members with trainings, security support, and guidelines for the gold standard of abortion care. NAF also operates the National Abortion Hotline, the largest national, multi-lingual abortion hotline in the U.S, which helps anyone in any state understand their care options, including finding a provider, arranging travel to another state, or funding their care.
National Abortion Hotline: 1-800-772-9100.
The post On Fourth Anniversary of Dobbs, the National Abortion Federation Releases First Policy Position on Viability Limits Since the Overturning of Roe appeared first on National Abortion Federation.
