Blue Ridge Abortion Fund x FAN: Southern Abortion Funds hold the line for abortion access in the region

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Blue Ridge Abortion Fund and Florida Access Network are working hand in hand to ensure Southern abortion access. 

The Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, based in Central Virginia, provides community members with financial support, transportation, and lodging assistance for abortions. Through education and community outreach, we reduce stigma and increase awareness. BRAF and FAN share a mission grounded in bodily autonomy and reproductive justice, and we have come together to shed light on the strength and integrity of the network of support we have built as abortion funds. 

FL is in the top 3 Southern states sending abortion seekers to VA for care

First things first, what’s driving Floridians to Virginia?

We’ve learned, particularly since the fall of Roe, that abortion bans anywhere affect access everywhere. We’re seeing a ripple effect from bans across the South. Folks are being forced to travel to Virginia to receive reproductive care because of the many restrictions newly enshrined in Florida law. 

Floridians are living under a six week ban that limits their access to abortion care. These are the specifics of Florida abortion law:

• You cannot access abortion after 6 weeks

  • There is a 24 hour waiting period if you want to access abortion before six weeks

• There is a 15 week abortion exception for rape, incest, and human trafficking cases (with legal/ police documentation)

• Telemedicine access is technically banned because of the in-person approval required by 2 medical professionals

• Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) Laws

• There are abortion funds and RJ orgs ensuring and advocating for reproductive care

Between the ban, and additional restrictions like the telehealth ban and 24 hour waiting period, Floridians have major hoops to jump through the secure an abortion appointment within their state or even in their area. Compare these conditions to Virginia’s:

• You can access abortion up to 26 weeks and 6 days*

  • *Most providers don‘t go past 22 weeks in VA

• It is the least restrictive state in the South

• There are frontline repro workers and state legislators working to enshrine reproductive freedom into VA’s constitution

The law is the baseline barrier to accessing care, but once folks are able to cross state lines for their appointment, a whole array of new barriers and challenges arise. Virginia’s reproductive care infrastructure and resources are being strained by Southerners traveling, and funds like BRAF are working to figure out how to cover costs for their local communities and the regional populations at the same time. 

The cost per abortion seeker has increased dramatically since May 2024, when the 6-week ban took effect. What do these costs look like? Between the actual price of the abortion, travel, gas, lodging, and aftercare, we’re looking at an average cost of over $2,400. That’s way too f*cking much, and access to healthcare should NEVER drain someone’s bank account, whether it’s for an abortion or a broken leg. 

Since the Dobbs Decision overturned Roe, BRAF has seen a 10% increase in out-of-state patients. 25% of the callers we support on a weekly basis are crossing state lines. 4.25% of these folks are coming directly from Florida. That means that for every 100 clients that BRAF takes in, 25 of them are coming from out of state, and about 5 of them are from Florida. Since the six week ban was enacted in 2024, 30% of FAN’s clients have been forced to seek care out of FL.

All of these numbers mean our funds and support resources are being drained faster than ever before, and that’s way the relationships between abortion funds matter so much. Every client we support in traveling to Virginia is a Floridian who was not able to receive adequate reproductive care within their community or home state. FAN and BRAF, and other regional funds like Women’s Emergency Network and ARC-Southeast, have been able to tag team and stretch our resources to mitigate the disastrous impacts of abortion bans for those Floridians. We have learned through these challenging years that we are much stronger together, and having strong relationships with each other as funds is the only way to push towards reproductive justice.

And being stronger together includes you! Whether you’re able to donate or just follow us on instagram [@braf.va and @flaccessnetwork], any support you can offer to abortion funds has a deeply positive impact on the work we do.