Soup kitchen volunteer work and feed the homeless projects form a core part of many families’ holiday traditions. While these causes are noble and necessary, it’s also important to give to charities that work to end the root causes of poverty, violence, and homelessness. Women are more likely to be poor than men. Families comprise about 35% of the homeless population.
Research consistently and directly links poverty to restrictive anti-abortion measures. Attacks on state abortion clinics attack women’s ability to support their families and lead lives of their choosing. Women denied abortions are more likely to live in poverty and to remain in abusive relationships. Poor women who choose to have their babies are more likely to face CPS involvement in their lives, have traumatic births, and die from childbirth. Reproductive justice is inextricably linked to economic justice. So this holiday season, consider giving to one or more of these excellent reproductive justice organizations:
NAPW fights for the rights of pregnant women at every stage of birth and delivery. From the right to have an abortion to the right to labor and deliver on their terms, NAPW is on the frontlines of the fight for bodily autonomy and reproductive self-determination.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is the only organization with both national and international expertise on women’s abortion and other reproductive rights. It represents women in cases involving choice, and files lawsuits designed to remove choice restrictions.
Discussions about pregnancy care often leave women out. A woman’s right to control her body and her destiny does not end with pregnancy, or with the decision to keep the baby. Human Rights in Childbirth protects all forms of reproductive choice. Beyond just abortion, the organization advocates for quality pregnancy care, an end to delivery room abuses, and healthcare policies that protect women and children.
Medicaid, many insurance plans, and most programs for poor and disenfranchised women do not cover the costs of abortion. The National Network of Abortion Funds does.
The Abortion Care Network helps women access abortion, offers abortion education and advocacy, and counsels women who have undergone abortions. It can also connect you to abortion funding resources, as well as after-abortion services.
Like the National Network of Abortion Funds, WRRAP funds abortions for women. It also helps women locate free and low-cost abortion services and pay for emergency contraception.
The National Abortion Federation has long been at the fore of the fight for reproductive justice and choice. Its hotline connects women to free and low-cost abortion services, and helps them explore abortion funding options.
Black mothers are three times more likely to die from pregnancy and birth related complications. They’re also less likely to be able to access safe and affordable abortion. The Black Mamas Matter Alliance is working to ensure that motherhood isn’t a death sentence for black women.