Interview with an abortion doctor in texas who has been outlawed from doing his job

From here.  I am going to crosspost all of it.

------------------------

On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block a new law in Texas that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, a measure that has caused at least a dozen clinics in the state to stop terminating pregnancies. Dr. Lester Minto owns and operates one of the affected clinics, Harlingen Reproductive Services. I spoke with him last week as he awaited the Supreme Court’s vote.

Slate: Are you closed? 


Lester Minto: Of course not. I have nine ladies scheduled for tomorrow.

Slate: What do you tell them? 


Minto: That I do not do abortions. I cannot do them legally. And I tell them that I know that there are other things that people do.

Slate: What do other people “do?”


Minto: If they have a passport and enough money, they go over the border to Mexico and go to a pharmacy and buy misoprostol at a pharmacy. It is an ulcer drug, but it works as an abortifacient. It is not as effective mifepristone, which is the on-label medicine used in the U.S. But in these ladies’ situations, misoprostol can be a good choice. It is proper medicine in a blister pack from a proper pharmacy. Someone might even know how to dose it. But it can be an expensive choice. In the U.S., misoprostol costs 10 to 12 cents a pill. I have had ladies charged $80 a pill at Mexican pharmacies. Also passports are expensive and can take too long to get if you don’t have one already. Misoprostol only works up to about seven weeks after your last menstrual period. You need a passport now just to walk over the bridge into Mexico and back. Of course if you are undocumented this isn’t an option at all.

Slate: What do women do if they don’t have a passport? 


Minto: They buy the drug at a flea market. This is bad and sad and wrong. They are going to be buying things on the street. You don’t even know if you are getting the real thing. But these goddamn politicians ... Women are forced to crawl around like goddamn criminals. So I am here to help them.

Slate: How do you help them? 


Minto: I give them a sonogram to make sure they are pregnant—and if they are pregnant, to make sure it is a uterine pregnancy—that they have no ectopic issues or anything. Then I give them vitamins. Because if they decide to keep the pregnancy, you want it be a healthy one. If they decide to do “something,” you don’t want them to hemorrhage excessively. That is a risk if a lady is anemic. A lot of my patients don’t have great health care, so a lot are anemic.

Slate: So the women take the drug and ...

Minto: They stay close to home, and sometimes it all works fine. But if it doesn’t—or it works part-way, that is what often happens— they can come to me, and I can do “miscarriage management.”

Slate: That’s legal in Texas?

Minto: Yes, in Texas once a woman is vaginally hemorrhaging, it is legal for me to help her.

Slate: What does that involve? 


Minto: The same thing as an abortion. It’s just a change in words. It’s double talk. It’s bullshit.

Slate: Why don’t you just get admitting privileges at a local hospital and comply with the new law?

Minto: They won’t have me. They are religiously affiliated. So you know, Jesus.

--------------------------

Jesus indeed.

Please, teach basic science

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

From here.

A Republican Senate Nominee said that. You'd think he's be fairly bright.  He should know better.  Man, if you're gonna oppose abortion please use facts to back up your views, not made up science.

Abortion Laws in the States

So between twitter and the radio I've been hearing a lot about GOP, Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, abortion, contraception, trans vaginal scans and rape.  But I hadn't really paid much attention to it.  Until my Dad sent me this Doonesbury cartoon from today's Guardian newspaper.  Go click on the link, it won't allow me to post a clear picture of it here.

Pretty awful, no?

Then I read the part of the email where Dad said this cartoon had been banned in Texas.  I enquired if he was joking and he sent me this article which I shall cross post in it's entirety:


Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau has defended his cartoon strip about abortion, which several US newspapers are refusing to run, saying he felt compelled to respond to the way Republicans across America are undermining women's healthcare rights.
The strip, published on Monday and scheduled to run all week, has been rejected by several papers, while others said they were switching it from the comic section to the editorial page.
In an email exchange with the Guardian, Trudeau expressed dismay over the papers' decision but was unrepentant, describing as "appalling" and "insane" Republican state moves on women's healthcare.
About 1,400 newspapers, including the Guardian, take the Doonesbury cartoon. The Guardian newspaper is running the cartoon as normal on Monday.
The strip deals specifically with a law introduced in Texas and other states requiring a woman who wants to have an abortion to have an ultrasound scan, or sonogram, which will show an image of the foetus and other details, in an attempt to make her reconsider.
It portrays a woman who turns up at an abortion clinic in Texas and is told to take a seat in "the shaming room". A state legislator asks if she has been at the clinic before and, when she says she had been to get contraceptives, he replies: "Do your parents know you're a slut?"


Later, she says she does not want an intrusive vaginal examination but is told by a nurse: "The male Republicans who run Texas require that all abortion seekers be examined with a 10-inch shaming wand." The nurse adds: "By the authority invested in me by the GOP base, I thee rape."
The Kansas City Star is among the papers not running the cartoon in its normal slot. "We felt the content was too much for many of the readers of our family-friendly comic page," an editor told Associated Press. The Star will use a replacement strip offered by the organisation that syndicates Doonesbury, Universal Uclick, and move the abortion one to its editorial pages.
Sue Roush, managing editor of Universal Uclick, said: "I can't say how many papers will choose ultimately to run or not run the series, but we've had inquiries from 30 to 40 papers asking about the substitutes."
Abortion, contraception and other social issues have resurfaced in politics in recent weeks, partly because they have been highlighted by the Republican candidates in the presidential race. Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh referred to a student giving evidence to a congressional hearing in support of contraception as "a slut".


Trudeau told the Guardian he thought the issue of reproductive freedom had been settled while he had still been at school: the supreme court 1973 ruling Roe v Wade, which removed restrictions on abortion.


Trudeau wrote: "Ninety-nine percent of American women have or will use contraception during their lifetimes. To see these healthcare rights systematically undermined in state after state by the party of 'limited government' is appalling. "In Texas, the sonograms are the least of it. The legislature has also defunded women's health clinics all over the state, leaving 300,000 women without the contraceptive services that prevent abortions in the first place. Insanity."
Trudeau is dismayed by the newspaper reaction. "I write the strip to be read, not removed. And as a practical matter, many more people will see it in the comics page than on the editorial page," he wrote.
"I don't mean to be disingenuous. Obviously there's some profit to controversy, especially for a satirist. If debate is swirling around a particular strip, and if its absence creates blowback, then I'm contributing to the public conversation in a more powerful way. But I don't get up in the morning and scheme about how to antagonise editors. Some of these folks have supported me for decades."
Asked about the use of the word "rape" to describe what was happening to women seeking abortions in Texas, he said it was perfectly apt for the compulsory insertion of an object into the vulva. "That falls within the legal definition of rape. Coercion need not be physically violent to meet the threshold. Many people here are now referring to trans-vaginal sonograms as 'state rape'. That seems about right to me," he wrote.
"However, if you just mean the topic of rape generally, it's not something I would avoid simply because I work on a page where children can occasionally be found. People know what to expect in Doonesbury. Certainly children do, which is why they never read it. And editors have long known what they're getting; I first wrote about rape in the late '70s, devoting an entire week to a mock rape trial."


The Texas governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential candidates race in January, signed the abortion measure into law in May 2010.

His press spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, asked about the Doonesbury strip, said: "The decision to end a life is not funny. There is nothing comic about this tasteless interpretation of legislation we have passed in Texas to ensure that women have all the facts when making a life-ending decision."

Scary, no?  Then I read this article about a 15 year old child facing imprisonment for 'depraved heart murder' - or miscarrying at 36 weeks because she took coke.

What?  How is anyone taking this seriously?  How can you jail a child for miscarrying? How can you jail anyone for miscarrying?  What next, we jail women because they don't eat enough greens or take enough supplements during pregnancy?

I feel sick.  These are hate laws, pure and simple, directed at women.  If these people actually wanted to reduce the number of abortions they'd provide free contraception to every woman and girl of child bearing age.  They would educate children about consent, and healthy sex, and contraception.  But they don't do this because they actually just seek to slut shame and control women's bodies and pass judgement from nigh on high above, where they will never ever ever have any idea what it is like to be pregnant, bear a child or bring one up.  They have no idea about women's lives and they have absolutely nor right to try and control 51% of the population.

I am disgusted.

December bulletin from ASN

Here's December's ASN bulletin.
----------------
ASN December eBulletin: Tis the Season to help women


Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. ASN on national TV. We’ve almost hit £1,000! ‘Tis the season to say thank you to those helping women – including our volunteers. And in November, ASN heard from 29 women. Hear some of their stories – and keep in touch!

• ASN on 4Thought
• £163 to go!
• ‘Tis the season to be grateful
• Women we’ve helped
• Keep in touch!

ASN on 4Thought TV
ASN’s Mara Clarke was invited to speak on Channel 4’s 4Thought on the topic of whether or not abortion clinics should be prevented from providing counselling to women seeking abortions. While we wish they hadn’t cut the part about ASN’s providing financial assistance and accommodation (our main purpose) we were glad to have the opportunity to provide our view. Well done Mara on flying the ASN flag and raising awareness among women who might need our help now or in future, as well as potential supporters and the general public. See all 7 4thought pieces on this issue here:
http://www.4thought.tv/themes/should-abortion-clinics-be-stopped-from-providing-counselling/mara-clarke

£163 to go
ASN’s campaign to raise £1,000 a month in regular income (standing orders from people in the UK and regular PayPal donations from those abroad), launched in March 2011 is going strong, and our monthly total is now at £837. If 32 of you give £5 a month, or 16 of you give £10 a month, we will reach our goal. Details of how to do this can be found here. Don’t forget to register for Gift Aid. And thanks!

‘Tis the season to be grateful
It is not possible for us to spend enough time thanking the family planning clinics and other organisations who send women our way, help them access the services they need, and fight for the rights of women living in Ireland and Northern Ireland to access safe and legal abortions in their own countries. Please consider donating, supporting or getting involved with one or more of these amazing and important organisations.

The organisations helping women access safe abortions
 bpasadvocates for and provides high quality, affordable services to prevent unwanted pregnancies with contraception or end them by abortion with 19 clinics and 36 consultation centres located throughout the UK.
 South Manchester Private Clinicpromotes the sexual health of men, women and young people. It offers abortion treatments and free pregnancy testing, sexually transmitted infection screening and a fully comprehensive contraceptive service.
 Marie Stopes International is the UK's leading provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare services. They are committed to providing all the help you need to make informed choices about your health.
 The Calthorpe Clinic in Birmingham supports the right for people to limit their family. For 40 years, it has been providing surgical and medical terminations for thousands of women each year.

Women on Webis an online medical abortion service that aims to reduce the number of deaths due to unsafe abortions in countries where abortion is highly restricted or illegal. WoW helps women in these countries gain access to a safe abortion using pills.

The groups fighting for abortion law reform – a partial list of the many, many organisations who are working to make abortion legal in Ireland and Northern Ireland – ASN is cheering you on and we happily wait for the day when your efforts successfully put us out of business!

 The Northern Irish Family Planning Association (nifpa) recently launched a video on abortion in Northern Ireland to highlight the 150th anniversary of the 1861 Offence Against the Person Act that has resulted in 150 years of discrimination and denial for the women of Northern Ireland.
 In addition to providing services to women in Ireland, The Irish Family Planning Association (ifpa) campaigns for law reform, believing that abortion is an intimate aspect of private life, intricately linked with human rights values and principles that protect a woman's sexual and reproductive rights.
 Abortion Rights UK is the UK’s national pro-choice campaign, working to defend and extend women’s rights and access to safe, legal abortion, to all women in the United Kingdom – even if they live in Northern Ireland.
 Safe and Legal (in Ireland) Abortion Rights Campaign
 Alliance for Choice
 Belfast Feminist Network
 Choice Ireland
 Cork Woman’s Right to Choose Group
 Safe and Legal (in Ireland) Abortion Rights Campaign
Abortion Funds
 The National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) is a network of more than 100 grassroots abortion funds and practical support organisations (including ASN, who wouldn’t exist without NNAF’s help and support!) that help to make sure that all women and girls can access abortions.

 Before ASN, there was the Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group (IWASG), a group of Irish women in England who helped women from Ireland and N Ireland travel over for abortions from 1980 to 2000. Their story was told in Ann Rossiter’s book, Ireland’s Hidden Diaspora.

Pro Choice champions
ASN could not exist without our amazing ASN VOLUNTEERS,who answer calls from women between work, family and other commitments, write our materials, design our annual reports and websites, raise our funds, balance our books and get the word out about the work we’re doing. Our without our supporters, who provide the funds to help women access safe and legal abortions.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Women we’ve helped
In November, ASN heard from 29 women. We are immensely grateful to all of you who enable us to help women.

This month, we’d like to let women speak to you in their own words:

i have contacted ye in email and ye rang me back i couldn answer as i was with family i need this uregent as i dnt want a baby as i have a young baby and i had very bad postnatal depression after and was very hard cope i woudn be able deal with anther baby aswell as im jus getting back on my feet d last few mths i need this done asap as its getting me down nd findin it very hard and i have noone to talk too bout this i cant cope with another baby would be to much

I really appreciate how much effort you have gone to in providing me with all of the information. I did not expect so much help at all and it was a great help. I really am very grateful, I had never heard of your organisation before and I'm sure there are probably many others who are in a similar situation to me who would like to know about it too.

I have just found out that I am pregnant and desperately need to have an abortion I need some form of urgent help. Although I am in a stable relationship, my partner is not supportive of me having an abortion, despite the fact that neither of us are ready for a baby. He has told me he will never look at me the same again 'knowing that I have killed it'. But I can't possibly have this baby! I can't tell my parents because they will be so disappointed that I am pregnant in the first place but at the same time I don't think they would support an abortion either. I feel completely alone and trapped. Whatever I do somebody gets hurt or is disappointed in me but I truly feel that abortion is my only option. A baby deserves a good life and right now I can't provide that. Please help me in some way. I'm desperate.

To all at Asn,I would just like to express my deepest gratitude to all at ASN who have helped me in the last two weeks. Words cannot descibe how grateful i am to you all. You have helped me by both providing practical advice and much needed funds to ensure that it would be possible to travel for a abortion. Me and boyfriend will never forget the help and support you provided. The abortion was done and was only possible because of the help we recieved, having a abortion is hard enough emotionaly without the added stress of trying to arange travel and money. You all at ASN made it possible and I only hope that in the future I will be in a postion to help other women and girls the way you have. Thank you so much, Student 18.
ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you.

Keep in Touch
Want to make sure you have all the ASN news as soon as it happens? Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook. Also, from next month, this eBulletin will have a new look and feel, courtesy of MailChimp and another one of our fabulous volunteers.

Thank you thank you thank you!
ASN is funded almost entirely by the generous donations of individual supporters – like you! Without ASN, the many women we help wouldn’t be able to access vital financial and practical support towards covering the costs of their procedures and their journeys. Donations to ASN are vitally important to the lives of women faced with unplanned pregnancies.

We are entirely volunteer-run, and our small overhead costs are covered by a regular donation. This means that any money you donate goes directly towards the cost of a woman’s abortion or transport to England.

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards
Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/
Charity Number 1142120

@AbortionSupport Network August Bulletin

It's ASN's August bulletin.  As usual, copied and pasted from my email.  Unusally, I ahve a efw words to say about them and this bulletin.

In particular they are looking for someone who knows Gift Aid and can help them understand the process, and of course, more donations! At the time of writing they only have £400 in their coffers, which is only enough to help one woman. Please, please PLEASE consider donating to them, a one off payment or a standing order.

If you don’t know why you should support them please read the sections titled ‘Women we’ve helped’ and ‘A woman we couldn’t help’.

I donate to ASN because I believe that every woman should have autonomy over their own body, because I do not believe that foetuses are sentient and because if we reduce the opportunity and availability for legal abortions backstreet abortions will take place. These back street abortions will not be regulated, could be dangerous to the health of the women and could be botched.

Please support ASN.

-------------------
Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. We’re counting down to our second anniversary, and hope you all plan to attend our birthday party on Wednesday 26 October. We are currently in desperate need of funds as the more and women contact us for help. What better time than our birthday to make a gift to ASN – or ask your friends to? Read on!

• Happy almost birthday, ASN!
• All we want for our birthday is . . .
• £1000 campaign
• Gift Aid
• Women we’ve helped
• Thank you!

Happy almost birthday, ASN!
ASN is incredibly happy – and proud – to be turning 2. We couldn’t have made it without you, our wonderful supporters. We are busily putting the finishing touches on our second annual report, looking at all of our accomplishments, and planning for the future. We’re on track to TRIPLE the number of women ASN has helped this year compared to last. This growth has come with its share of challenges, but it has been incredibly rewarding to have helped more than 200 women who have contacted ASN since we opened.

We hope to see you all at our 2nd Birthday party, Wed 26 October from 7.00-10.00 pm (at Navya’s, 61 Swinton Street, Kings Cross, London, WC1X 9NT). An official invite will follow later this month.

All ASN wants for our birthday is . . .
Right now, we have just under £400 in our coffers. This is just over the cost of ONE abortion under 14 weeks, and not enough to cover abortions at later gestations. While we are expecting another £300 this month in standing orders, September is generally a very busy time at abortion clinics as some female students make the decision to carry on with their studies (instead of their pregnancies) and women with children facing crisis pregnancies are only able to make the trip to the clinic now that their children are in school in the day.

We’d like to use our birthday to request donations. As it’s our second birthday, we’d like to ask you to do any – or in keeping with the theme, any two – of the following:
- Increase your existing Standing Order by £2 a month
- Double your donation (2 X what you give every month or have given in the past)
- Set up a monthly Standing Order in a multiple of two - £2, £4, £8, etc
- Make a “2” themed donation – £2, £12, £22, £200, £222, £2,000
- Get 2 friends to set up a Standing Order

If you make a Standing Order or Direct Debit, please email ASN to let us know, so that we can track, acknowledge, and claim Gift Aid on your gift.

Other ways to give a birthday gift to ASN are:
- Tell 2 friends about ASN
- Get 2 friends to sign up for our mailing list
- Bring 2 friends to our birthday party!
- Promote ASN through #Fan Friday on Facebook or #Follow Friday on Twitter!

£1000 campaign
Last year, we announced a campaign to raise £1000 a month in regular income (Standing Orders) over the course of the year. We need just over £300 more a month to reach our goal! That’s just 30 people making a commitment of £10 per month to help a woman access a safe and legal abortion, or 60 people making a commitment of £5 per month. Or you can help of course by increasing your existing regular donation! Standing Orders help us to know how many women we can help each month.To set up a Standing Order you can complete this form and pass it on to your bank. Many banks also allow you to set up a Standing Order online if you use internet banking.

GIFT AID
Now that ASN is a charity (woo-hoo!) we are looking into how we can best claim gift aid – which means that if you are a UK tax payer we can claim tax on your donation making it worth an extra 25%. Please help us do this by:

- Filling out the gift aid form, attached and (NOTE: Email ASN if you need a gift aid form)
- Letting us know by email that you have made a donation via Direct Debit or Standing Order. As banks do not provide us with this information, emailing ASN is the only way for us to acknowledge, track, and claim gift aid on your donations! This holds true for donors both future and past -- if you have made a donation in the past but have not received acknowledgement, please let us know.

Do you know Gift Aid?
We are seeking someone with knowledge of the Gift Aid scheme to help ASN get set up. If this is you, and you have a few hours to spare, please get in touch.

The calls keep coming in
In August, ASN heard from 25 women. Last August, we heard from 6. We are immensely grateful for our donors who enable us to help women, the phone coordinators (Katie, Maddie, Sarah, Jane and Mara) who help these women navigate their way to a safe and legal abortion, to Women on Web for the amazing services they provide, and to the clinics we work with for making it all possible.

Women we helped this month included:
A woman who was literally £20 away from being able to have the funds to travel and pay for her abortion. Can you imagine £20 being the difference between an abortion and having to continue an unwanted pregnancy? Of course ASN was able to help!
A young woman who ran away to a friend’s house to escape her partner who was physically and mentally abusive and using drugs. She was desperately afraid that her family would find her and force her to continue with the pregnancy. ASN was able to help her cover the costs of her flights and procedure.

A lone parent with a young daughter. In addition to needing financial assistance, she also needed an expedited procedure as her passport was due to run out in a matter of days.
A young student who lives with her mother. Her mother, who supports the family on benefits, was refused a crisis loan from the bank. With the help of a discount from the clinic, ASN was able to help.

A married, unemployed couple unable to afford any more children.

A mother of four whose partner has just found work after more than a year of unemployment.

A young mother whose partner recently died tragically. She is living on benefits with no credit card, savings or internet access.

A woman who has been living in a hostel paid for by the housing agency since her partner left her and their children. She has no family support or friends who can help her. She was able to get a crisis loan of £90 and raise enough for flights and we were able to help her with the balance of her costs.

A woman who called very distressed about getting the money together. She couldn't tell her two older children who are unemployed anyway and the father "told her where to go" when she told him and changed his phone number. She was unable to receive a loan and tried but failed to borrow from family and friends.

A Woman We Couldn’t Help
At the end of July, we heard from a woman who only discovered that she was pregnant at 20 weeks. After trying to raise money for flights and travel in every way possible, she found out about ASN. A few phone calls and days later, we were able to arrange for a reduction in the cost of the procedure, a grant, and a host for two nights in London. Unfortunately, when she was scanned at the clinic, she was ONE DAY past the legal limit. Our hearts break for this woman – who, if she’d had the financial means to travel and book immediately, would not now have to continue an unwanted pregnancy.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

Thank you!
ASN is funded almost entirely by the generous donations of individual supporters – like you! Without ASN, women would be left with no other financial and practical support towards covering the costs of their procedures and their journeys. Donations to ASN are vitally important to the lives of women faced with unplanned pregnancies.

We are entirely volunteer-run, and our small overhead costs are covered by a regular donation. This means that any money you donate goes directly towards the cost of a woman’s abortion or transport to England.

Due to your support, we have never turned down a woman who could not access an abortion without our financial assistance. (And we’re hoping our 2nd Birthday request will mean that we never have to!)

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/
Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network (ASN) is an all-volunteer charity that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel from Ireland and pay privately for abortions in England. The cost ranges between £400 and £2000 depending on circumstance and stage of pregnancy. While other organisations campaign for law reform, ASN is the only group on record providing women travelling for abortions with the thing they need the most: money.
ASN is now a charity! Registered Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network - August bulletin

Find them on twitter: @abortionsupport

-----------------

Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. July has been another busy month – and things show no sign of slowing down. ASN’s Mara Clarke stood up for women in Ireland at a Pro Choice demonstration. We have a new phone team! ASN is looking to expand our hosting network outside of London. Save the date for our second birthday party – and why not take advantage of the opportunity to organise a film screening for ASN? Check out the second London Reproductive Health Happy Hour!

• The calls keep coming in

• New phone team

• Pro Choice Rally 9 July
• Upcoming events
• Hosts wanted and other ways to get involved

• Keep in touch

The calls keep coming in

In July, ASN heard from 24 women. In comparison, last July we heard from five. In fact, in our busiest month last year we heard from 12 women, whereas this year we’ve had several months where we’ve heard from more than 20 women. We are incredibly grateful to our donors, who provide us with the means to help these women when they call, and to the clinics we work with, who do everything in their power to help these women in need.

Women we heard from this month included:

• A 20 year old woman who became pregnant despite using oral contraceptives whose partner became violent and abusive when she told him about the pregnancy 
• A woman who felt so guilty and alone she spoke of suicide
• A mother of two who arrived at the clinic at a later gestation than anyone had suspected, and on a day when there was no doctor available to perform the procedure at her gestation. We were able to book her an appointment at a nearby clinic the same day.
• Three women in various circumstances who we helped to access a medical abortion through Women on Web.
• A single mother of two and recovering substance user. Her sister was able to help her with some of the funds, and ASN was able to make up the balance.
• A single mother who was advised not to have another child due to complications in her last pregnancy. When she approached her family for help she was told that she’d ‘made her bed and would now have to lie in it.’
• A young married couple facing a pregnancy affected by severe foetal anomalies. Their situation is so dire they are hoping she miscarries to save making the difficult and costly trip to England.

Email from a woman looking for help:

• Hey i really dnt know wat to do im 23 yrs old and i cant get an abortion over here and im now pregnant roughly 7 weeks i have 200 pounds i am on benefits no 1 will help me my doctor called me a murderer earlier and told me to leave his clinic please help i feel suicidal and have depression and severe anxiety, thank you

And finally, a thank you from the mother of a teen we helped in June:

• Hi I was wanted to Thank you again without your kind help I don't know how I would have been able to help my daughter as there is no help for woman/young girls here! She found out about your charity through talking to a Councillor. You were so caring, understanding of my predicament. I hope that if any other single mums of a 16 year old daughter finds themselves in my position find out about your charity as the cost of travel & clinic costs are horrendous on a single wage.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

New phone team

Thank you to everyone who came forward to volunteer as ASN phone coordinators. As the link between women in difficult circumstances and the funding and information that can help them, the phone is a vital channel for ASN. We are just now in the final stages of interviewing and training our new team.

Pro Choice Rally 9 July

We were glad to see so many of you at the Pro Choice Rally held 9 July at Parliament Square. For those of you who missed it, we have a clip of ASN’s Mara Clarke, who was among speakers including Dr Evan Harris, Dianne Abbott MP, Lisa Hallgarten of Education for Choice, writer Laurie Penny, and Darinka Aleksic and Kate Smurthwaite of Abortion Rights.

Hear Mara’s remarks.

Upcoming Events

• ASN’s second birthday celebration will be in the evening of 26 October in central London. Save the date!

• Interested in hosting a film screening? The fabulous Sarah Diehl is returning to England with her film, Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa. She will be attending a screening/ASN fundraiser in Newcastle 20 October and is looking for other venues to show between Newcastle and London between 20 Oct and 25 Oct. If you live in the UK and are interested in organising a screening of Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa, get in touch!

• The Repro Health Happy Hour returns! Join pro choice Londoners at a networking/drinks/social event 23rd August. More details here.

Get involved

As a volunteer-run organisation, ASN counts on its wonderful volunteers and supporters to help the women who contact us. We are currently seeking the following volunteers. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these roles.

Hosts - ASN is expanding! In addition to seeking hosts within an easy commute of Richmond, Ealing, Streatham or Brixton, we are also seeking hosts in Birmingham, Merseyside/Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester. Have a spare room, pull out sofa, or air mattress and the desire to host a woman in need? Get in touch! And make sure to tell your prochoice friends who live in these places about ASN!

Event Planning - Host a film screening, help plan an ASN event, or create something of your own. For inspiration, check out our Fundraising Toolkit.

A few words from you

As ASN starts writing our second annual report, we want your input. If you have made a donation, what compelled you to choose ASN to support? If you are a host, what makes you host? Why are you involved with ASN? Let us know!

Keep in touch! - mara@abortionsupport.org.uk

Are you one of the more than 500 people who follows us on Twitter? If not, sign up now! Have a friend who would be interested in receiving this newsletter? Forward this to them and encourage them to visit www.abortionsupport.org.uk to sign up to receive our monthly eBulletin.

Thank you!!

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/

Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network update - July

As before,  here is July's update from the Abortion Support Network:

ASN July eBulletin: We need your support

Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. June has been almost as busy as May was. We found out that we are losing two members of our phone team, heard from twenty three women seeking assistance, looked at ways to get more people involved with ASN, began planning for next year’s annual report and sent two delegates to the NNAF conference – where we won an award! All exciting stuff. Read on!

• ASN Phone Coordinator – Urgently Needed
• Want to have a film screening in October?
• Get involved
• A few words from you
• Pro Choice Rally 9 July
• Women we’ve helped
• ASN at NNAF

Wanted: ASN Phone Coordinator

The phone is the link between women in difficult circumstances and the funding and information that can help them. Do you live in London and have a cool head, a calm phone manner and the ability to return phone calls and emails within 24 hours? You might make an excellent ASN phone coordinator. Phoners take the phone for one week every four to five weeks and are trained and supported throughout their shifts.

ASN just found out that we will be losing TWO of our phone team this month. One is having a baby and will be back in a few months, and the other is starting a job where she will be unable to take or return calls.

If we do not find at least one new phone coordinator before August, ASN may have to change the level of service we are able to give women.

One of our departing phoners had this to say:

It's hard to put into words why I love being a 'phoner' but I'll try...I really enjoy being able to help women practically through something that can be quite difficult, confusing, emotional, frustrating, and a multitude of other things. I also find it extremely fulfilling to be a part of the process in allowing women access their reproductive rights. I'm going to miss the experience a lot!

If you are interested in more information about being a phone coordinator, please email us.

Want to have a film screening in October?

The fabulous Sarah Diehl is returning to England with her film, Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa. She will be attending a screening/ASN fundraiser in Newcastle 20 October and is looking for other venues to show between Newcastle and London between 20 Oct and 25 Oct. If you live in the UK and are interested in organising a screening of Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa, get in touch!

Get involved

As a volunteer-run organisation, ASN counts on its wonderful volunteers and supporters to help the women who contact us. We are currently seeking the following volunteers. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these roles.

Hosts

We are looking for hosts who live within an easy commute of Richmond, Ealing, Streatham or Brixton. Have a spare room, pull out sofa, or air mattress and the desire to host a woman in need?

Event Planning

Host a film screening, help plan an ASN event, or create something of your own. For inspiration, check out our Fundraising Toolkit.

A few words from you

As ASN starts writing our second annual report, we wanted to ask you for some intel. If you have made a donation, what compelled you to choose ASN to support? If you are a host, what makes you host? Why are you involved with ASN? Let us know!

Pro Choice Rally 9 July

Several ASN volunteers will be attending the Pro Choice Rally on July 9 from 1.30 to 4.30 pm. The event will be held at Old Palace Yard, Parliament Square in London. If you are interested in attending or learning more, you can find the group on Facebook here. Hope to see you there!

Women we’ve helped

In June, ASN heard from 23 women, including several with extremely complicated and time-consuming situations. We are incredibly grateful to our donors, who provide us with the means to help these women when they call, and to our phone coordinators, who deal with each of these women with compassion and care. Women we heard from this month included:

A single woman in her 20s with a young child. In addition to flights and an initial consultation, she also had to pay for a new passport. After being refused an overdraft by her bank, she rang ASN for help.

A teenage year old student with no financial means who lives with her parents and is afraid to tell them of her pregnancy.

A married couple with two children had a wanted pregnancy become unwanted due to severe foetal abnormalities. As this woman also needed to obtain a Visa to travel, it took several weeks for her to travel for England. Despite having a number of supportive friends loan them money, the combined costs of travel, the procedure, and expedited visas was too much for them. Between a grant from ASN and reduction in fee from the clinic, we were able to help this family.

We were contacted by a mother of three. Both she and her husband are working but struggling to make ends meet. "I wish we were in a situation where we could keep this baby but the fact is we are not. I know some people say all a baby needs is love but that's not true - a baby also needs food, and a roof over its head and someone to pay the daycare while its parents are out earning the money to keep food on the table.”

A single mother in her 30s who sent this via email: I would really like to thank you for your help last week when i had to travel to [England].  You really helped me. The decision was hard enough but with all the costings delayed me even further and without your help at the last minute I wouldnt have been able to do what I felt was right at the time for me.  Thank you so much.  Words cannot describe how much you helped me and hopefully I can make a donation soon and give back something that may help other women in my situation.

We were contacted by the mother of a young teenage girl. Her mother has other children and supports them all with a part time job. In addition to the stress of facing a crisis pregnancy, she and her daughter were chased down the street outside the family planning clinic by protesters screaming “Murderer!” at them. We were able to help them to obtain a reduction in fee from the clinic and with a grant. They sent us a text to confirm that they got home safely after the procedure and to thank us. 

A teenage student who was able to raise almost the entire amount for the abortion and her flights. ASN was able to give her the last £100.

We heard from a woman who has been living in a refuge since escaping from her abusive husband with no financial means. A number of medical complications, coupled with her extreme financial need, made it extremely difficult to arrange for this woman to come to England. Our extreme gratitude to our contact at bpas, who made sure that this woman was able to receive the care that she needed. Thanks also to Sally and Peter who donated £200 towards this patient’s care. 

Email from a young woman: “I am about 6 weeks pregnant. It is a disaster. I can not afford to travel to England. No way I can. I can't have this baby. What will I do?”

Single mother of four with no income, no savings, and serious health issues. She was given a free procedure by one of the wonderful and amazing clinics we work with and ASN paid for flights for her and a companion as her health issues made it impossible for her to travel alone.

A separated mother of three who became pregnant while on birth control. "It's just f**king ridiculous, I'm not a criminal. I just can't have this baby. I'm [in my forties], I'm a grown woman and I should be able to make this decision for myself."

Mother of one whose partner left her for another woman shortly after she became pregnant.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

ASN at NNAF

Two delegates from ASN had the pleasure of travelling to the annual National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) conference in the US (Our thanks to NNAF for heavily subsidising our travels!) ASN is one of 104 abortion funds that is part of NNAF and we were proud and inspired to be with so many other people who are working to help women in desperate circumstance.  They attended a number of workshops on topics ranging from best practices in intake and fundraising to a moving abortion speak out and an impromptu counter protest that occurred when we discovered a clinic protest a block from the hotel. ASN also won an award for volunteer recruitment! Way to go, ASN! We will be incorporating some of the valuable information we learned into making ASN the best organisation it can be.

***

Thank you!!

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network

            +44 (0) 7897 611 593      info@abortionsupport.org.uk
www.abortionsupport.org.uk
Company No. 07017607

ASN June Bulletin

As I have done before, here is a copy of the Abortion Support Network's June newsletter, copied from my inbox.  I have no involvement with ASN, other than giving them money, and believe they provide a much needed service and do a wonderful job.  Read on and consider supporting them:

------------------

Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. Between recent media coverage, a change in how Pro Choice Happy Hours are organised and the TWENTY SIX women we heard from this month, there’s almost too much news to fit into this humble eBulletin. Fortunately, there’s room for our biggest news, which is that ASN is now a charity! Now, if only we had an accountant . . . Read on!

·         Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

·         Pro Choice Happy Hours – Revamped

·         Charitable status

·         Get involved

·         Women we’ve helped

·         A woman we didn’t help

·         Thank you!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Abortion Support Network has been a media darling lately. First our lovely volunteer Hannah wrote a piece on Supporting Abortion Rights in the UK that was published by Feministe (and reposted by many others!). Then ASN sent out two press releases, Ireland’s Abortion Ban Continues to Impact Women, about the latest Dept of Health figures on women having abortions in the England, and one on the Anti Choice Group Sneaked into Government Sexual Health Advisory Group. This resulted in coverage of ASN in the Irish Journal and ASN’s Anne Q “appearing” on Dublin’s Spin FM. You can listen to the clip via the ASN website.

Pro Choice Happy Hours – Revamped

The Pro Choice Happy Hour is no more. Long live the London Repro Health Happy Hour! Repro Happy Hours were started in New York City by a couple sexual and reproductive health professionals looking for a regular social networking event where they could get some drinks and talk shop with other pro-choice, pro-sexual rights, like-minded people. The success of the monthly happy hours in New York spread, and there are now popular Repro Health Happy Hours in cities across the world. This was, in fact, what ASN was trying to do with our Pro Choice Happy Hours, and we are very happy to hand the torch over to Chelsea R who will be organising these events in future. We hope to see you at the first London Repro Health Happy Hour on 28 June!! Check out the Facebook Group for more information and to get updates on the first event, or send an email for more information.

Charitable status

Yes, you read that right. After more than 10 months of paperwork, ASN has successfully registered with the Charity Commission. Our lovely new Registered Charity Number is 1142120. Thanks so much to Jen, Becky, Nick, and everyone else who helped with the arduous process! Please bear with us while we sort out details like putting the number on our website and deciding what route we will be going regarding Gift Aid. And while we’re on the subject, are any of you knowledgeable about Gift Aid? Please get in touch! We could use some advice. 

Get Involved

As a volunteer-run organisation, ASN counts on its wonderful volunteers and supporters to help the women who contact us. We are currently seeking the following volunteers. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these roles.

Accountant

Do you like it when people show you the money? We are seeking an accountant. We need either someone who can help us manage the day to day financials (paying invoices, keeping an eye on our bank balance) or someone who can help us do our annual accounts and ensure that we are correctly reporting our activities to the Charity Commission. We currently have one person doing both of these roles, which we’d like to split between two people.

Phone Coordinator

The phone is the link between women in difficult circumstances and the funding and information that can help them. Do you live in London and have a cool head, a calm phone manner and the ability to return phone calls and emails within 24 hours? You might make an excellent ASN phone coordinator. Phoners take the phone for one week every four to five weeks and are trained and supported throughout their shifts.

Hosts

We are looking for hosts who live within an easy commute of Richmond, Ealing, Streatham or Brixton. Have a spare room, pull out sofa, or air mattress and the desire to host a woman in need?

Women we’ve helped

May was an exceptionally busy month for ASN. We heard from 26 women, many of whom had situations even more difficult and complex than the “norm”. We are incredibly grateful to our funders, who provide us with the means to help these women when they call, and to our phone coordinators, who deal with each of these women with compassion and care. Women we heard from this month included:

A woman who had funds but no passport. We were able to advise her on getting to England without one.

A single mother who spent weeks struggling with misinformation on the internet before finding ASN. After booking flights she only had £120 for the procedure, and we gave her a grant for the balance. She sent this email upon returning home: “Hi there, i just wanted to say thank you for all your help and support for last week. Right up until last wednesday i could barley eat, or sleep, but now thanks to you i can move on and continue making a better life for my kids, i wanted you to know how grateful i really am for all your help, many thanks”

A mother of a young baby, who became pregnant both times despite taking birth control pills. By the time she was able to confirm the pregnancy and get a scan she was 22 weeks pregnant. We were able to pay the balance of her procedure as well as provide two nights’ accommodation.

A woman whose abusive husband prevented her from getting an abortion, and was only able to could come to England for the procedure after leaving him. We bought her flights and negotiated a reduced fee at the clinic.

A single mother of three who accidentally called an anti-choice crisis pregnancy agency and had one of their “counsellors” calling her several times a day telling her that abortion is murder and that the doctors in England are all butchers who would leave her permanently damaged. We were able to help her pay for the procedure  and provided two days accommodation – as well as much needed reassurance and unbiased support.

A teenage girl living with her parents but unable to tell them about the pregnancy. We were able to help her make an appointment at a local family planning clinic for support as well as provide her with info on clinics in England and supporter with a grant towards her abortion.

The mother of a pregnant teen. We were able to give them information about Women on Web, saving them the cost of travelling to England and paying privately for an abortion.

A mother of two living in a refugee camp in Ireland. She had no money and no visa. We were able to put her in touch with an organisation that helped her with her visa and to find a clinic that would provide her with a free procedure.

A woman in a relationship with a man who is against abortion and who threatened her when she said she was considering a termination – including a threat that he would paint “murderer” on her house if she didn’t carry the pregnancy to term. She said, “I always thought I wouldn't do this, but you can't judge anyone, you don't know until you're put in that position."

A woman who only found out she was pregnant after undergoing a major operation. Despite facing serious health problems , numerous complications with this case meant she and her husband had to obtain an abortion in a hospital in England.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

A Woman we Didn’t Help (for all the right reasons!)

We wanted to share with you the story of a woman who, in the end, did not receive a grant from ASN. We were contacted by the mother and sister of a 14 year old girl in the very early stages of pregnancy. Initially, they wanted to fly to England immediately for the termination, but we advised them to wait a week or two in order to see a local family planning clinic (which can save the cost of a consultation fee in England) as well as save them the cost of last minute plane tickets. The girl’s mother had to borrow money to pay for the flights and ASN planned to give a £200 grant towards the procedure. While she was at the clinic, the girl was quite distraught and kept talking about adoption. The clinic gave her some time to think about her decision, but ultimately decided it best to send her home until she was more secure in her choice. The clinic manager told her to go home and think, but also assured her that if she changed her mind again, the clinic would give her a free procedure, and that ASN would help her pay for her flights.  We wanted to share this story with you because it illustrates exactly what “pro choice” means. Even if women (or a girl in this case) have made multiple phone calls, booked plane tickets, and crossed international borders, the most important thing we can do is to listen to women and allow them to make their own decisions.

***

Thank you!!

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network

            +44 (0) 7897 611 593      info@abortionsupport.org.uk
www.abortionsupport.org.uk
Company No. 07017607

Abortion Support Network update

The Abortion Support Network (ASN) have a new website!  They have also started a 'standing order campaign' to get a £1000 in standing order donations coming in every month.  As you well know, I fully support this organisation.  Their fundraising thermometer is currently at £500 a month but they need more.

The ASN is "a volunteer-run organisation that provides financial assistance, accommodation in volunteer homes, and confidential, non-judgmental information to women in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who are travelling to England to access a safe and legal abortion."

FAQs about the organisation can be seen here.  ASN have this to say about the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland:

In both Northern Ireland (despite being part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland, abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances and it is virtually impossible for women to access an abortion legally. In both countries, however, women can legally travel abroad for an abortion and information can be provided about accessing abortions abroad (under certain conditions).
Further information about the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is available here:

• Irish Family Planning Association
• Bpas Ireland

In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man there is limited-to-no provision of abortion.

Please conszider giving money to the ASN.  Help them meet their £1000 a month target.

Abortion Support Network update

Remember how a few weeks ago I blogged about the Abortion Support Network running out of funds?  Well they've sent this update to all their supporters andI thought I'd share.

(All permissions given of course)

---------------------
ASN recently sent out our third fundraising appeal (thanks to all who donated!), in which we said that the recent and exponential increase in calls had put us at risk of running out of reserve funds. We’d like to apologise to those of you who took this to mean that ASN was at risk of closing down – we’re not! – and briefly explain how abortion funds work.


Abortion funds are a band-aid solution to the larger problem of lack of access to affordable, safe and legal abortions. As ASN helps women in need, more women find out about us. Then we help more women. Then we tell people we helped women, and more people give us money. Then more women call us, and we help more women. An abortion fund will never have enough money to help all the women who need help accessing abortion, so at times we may have to suspend our grant giving until we have more funds. All an abortion fund can do is to try and help as many women as it can, through grants, by giving information, by negotiating discounts with clinics, and by raising as much money as we can.

The main reason we ask (and ask, and ask!) for Standing Orders is so that it helps us guarantee a certain amount of income and grants each month. We are also very lucky to have a donor who gives us a Standing Order each month specifically to cover our phone bill. Because of this, all other individual donations, unless specified, go directly to help women.

Finally, ASN can still help women, if and when we don’t have money for grants. We can continue to tell women which clinics have the lowest fees, how to access medical abortion via Women on Web and how to contact local family planning services. And put women up in our host’s homes of course.

It can be frustrating being involved with an abortion fund because someday there will be a woman who we will not be able to help. We consider ourselves very fortunate that, due to the incredible generosity of all of you and the success of our recent appeal that day has not yet come. But as more women learn about our services, we will be spending more and more money helping more women. This is a good thing! Or, as a good friend who runs a fund in the US once said, “If you’re not running out of money, you’re not doing it right.”

Our recent appeal
Thanks so much to the more than 50 people who donated well over £1,500.00 to ASN. You are all amazing! We also wanted to remind people who have set up a Standing Order or Direct Debit to our bank account to please let us know so we can track your gift. Otherwise, while we can see that the money is coming in, unless you donate via PayPal (which we don’t recommend as PayPal charges high fees) we often cannot see who the money is from.

We are hoping to soon get to the point where we can count on £1,000 per month in Standing Orders, and your contributions are a huge boon towards this goal. Thank you!

Women we’ve helped
This month we heard from 17 women – our busiest month yet – including eight calls in one day. The women included:
A woman who, after two miscarriages, was finally pregnant. Sadly however, antenatal testing showed severe foetal malformations.
A woman struggling to support her teenage boys with a part time job. Her husband recently left her and refused to help her with child maintenance or the cost of the termination.
A single mother of a young child, scraping by on benefits in a hostel. She was able to get a loan for £300 which barely covered the cost of her travel. She had to take the ferry as she doesn’t have a passport.
A woman who came for a 2-day procedure without arranging accommodation. We were able to find her a last-minute host.
A young mother of two who had severe post-natal depression after her last child. Her partner is aware and supportive but can’t help financially and they are unable to tell anyone else about the pregnancy due to fear of stigma. They paid some bills late to raise £250 and we were able to pay the balance of her procedure and flights.
A single parent of 2 young children who she supports on lone parent’s allowance. The man involved in the pregnancy is abusive and would force her to continue the pregnancy he knew about it; so she has told no one. We were able to get a reduction from the clinic.

Finally, one of the ASN phone coordinators received this text from the father of the 19 year old girl mentioned in our appeal, who was pregnant as result of rape:
You’re an angel of grace thank you so much from my wife myself and [our daughter] we are ten minutes away from home and thanks to you and your wonderful organisation everything went perfect today and now we can all get on with our lives after weeks of torment I will never forget what you have done to help us through this process thank you so much

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you.

Recent news and upcoming events

ASN in the News
Sarah Fisher of the Communications Committee recently wrote an article on ASN that was printed in the Newsletter for the Humanist Association of Northern Ireland. Check it out (page 8-9)!
Pro Choice Happy Hour
And, we hope you can make it to our next Pro Choice Happy Hour on Monday, 14 March from 7-10 pm at the Old Star Tavern in Westminster. Unlike previous events we’ve held at the Old Star, this St Patrick’s Day themed PCHH will be held in the lower level of the pub. We will have baked goods available for sale!
Film Screening
Have you saved the dates for one of the upcoming screenings of “Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa”? The film, which will be shown in aid of ASN in Warwick (9 May), Bristol (10 May) and London (11 May), shows how, inconceivably, it’s easier to get an ILLEGAL abortion in Poland than it is to get a LEGAL abortion in South Africa. All three screenings will include a Q&A with director Sarah Diehl. Stay tuned for venues and times!

Speaking of the Film Screening . . .

We are looking for a venue for the London screening of this film, either a room that seats 50 or an actual cinema. Have any leads? Please email us.

Get involved
ASN is currently seeking two types of volunteers: volunteer hosts and a volunteer phone coordinator. We are specifically seeking hosts who live near the clinics that women who need to stay overnight are most likely to attend, which means we are looking for hosts in easy commuting distance to Ealing, Richmond, Brixton and Streatham. We also seek a London-based phone coordinator. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these roles.

Thank you!

In addition to thanking all of you, our fabulous and committed supporters, I wanted to take a moment to thank our wonderful and committed phone volunteers. Each week, one of them juggles answering the ASN phone and client email with work, family and other commitments. Each week, they deal with women in distress, and sometimes in extremely traumatic situations. It is probably fair to say that each of us has felt like crying at some point while on the phone. And yet – there is something wonderful about the knowledge that, thanks to your support, we are able to help these women.

And speaking of our ability to help these women, remember that a donation or a Standing Order helps support women who desperately need access to safe and legal abortions.

Donations – via Standing Order, money transfer, PayPal or in the ASN bucket at one of our events – are urgently needed and gratefully received.

Every penny given to us by individual donors goes directly to help women.

If you have been thinking of making a donation, setting up a Standing Order, or telling your friends about ASN, now would be a great time to do so.
***
Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the more than 100 women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network
-------------------------

You can read more about the ASN on their website.http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/

Abortion

I just found this post on what life was like before abortion.*  I urge everyone to go read it.  Sadly I don't think it will change any anti choicers minds.  There has been quite a lot of stuff on twitter lately about abortion rights being potentially restricted in the US, and then there's the British Abortion Support Network who are (were?) running out funds.  It's all making me rather sad.  Then I remember my default response:

And I feel a little more energised.  But still pissed off.



*Thanks to Ami Angelwings for providing the link.