Having the freedom to decide if and when we have kids is fundamental to building the lives we want for ourselves. But in the face of a housing affordability crisis, underfunded child care infrastructure, and a widening gender wage gap, this fundamental freedom feels further and further out of reach. Instead of addressing these economic issues, anti-abortion lawmakers are trying to divest from proven social services and invest in anti-abortion programs that are not only ineffective, but detrimental to communities.
Since 2020, Equity Forward has conducted investigative research on anti-abortion centers (AACs) and how states have financially supported and legitimized them through Alternatives to Abortion (A2A) programs. Our new research provides, for the first time, a full funding portrait of public dollars invested into A2A programs and individual AACs at the state level since the practice began.
Targeting marginalized communities is an issue across various businesses, including finance, food and beverage, and retail. Anti-abortion centers (AACs) also fall in the predatory business category. AACs’ strategic targeting of marginalized communities exploits disparities and systemic inequalities in reproductive health care to their advantage.
As Equity Forward has reported, a number of states in the United States operate Alternatives to Abortion (A2A) programs, which funnel state and federal funds to anti-abortion centers (AACs), whose purpose is to shame and deceive pregnant people and parents and convince them not to seek abortion care. Indiana is one of more than a dozen states with an A2A program.
On Equal Pay Day, we hear a lot about the gender wage gap (and for good reason). But there’s something else that has been deepening economic insecurity: abortion bans and restrictions.
Has the anti-abortion movement weaponized the judicial branch to enforce its agenda? Of course it has. The Supreme Court of the United States’ (SCOTUS) ethical state-of-play is particularly concerning given the justices will be hearing oral arguments on the two biggest post-Roe reproductive rights cases so far.