2024 Report to Donors

To our donors:

In June of 2022, when the Kentucky “trigger ban” prohibited almost all abortions in our state, we at A Fund, Inc. faced a crisis. How could we continue our mission – to champion the right of individuals to decide if, when, how, and with whom to form a family – in this hostile environment? 

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New challenges call forth new energy. As A Fund adjusts to the post-Roe era, we are finding new ways to defend reproductive rights.  

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• A Fund continues its partial support of clinic abortions for residents of Kentucky, and we now serve patients in adjoining states. These patients must travel out of state to a variety of clinics located in Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.  

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• Kentucky Health Justice Network’s hotline service identifies patients in need of abortions, and A Fund allots up to $20,000 per month to assist these patients. A Fund pays the clinics directly for each procedure. We have to fund these abortions at a much higher dollar level than before the Kentucky abortion ban took effect, and we also assist patients with the costs of travel and lodging. 

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• In partnership with the Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, A Fund sponsors a  social media campaign to educate the public about abortion pills. We place informational ads about abortion pills on Facebook and Instagram. 

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• We are working to expand access to contraception. EC (emergency contraception, which is available over the counter) is stolen from pharmacies at such a high rate that they put it behind the front counter—a problem that highlights the need for this medication! A Fund receives 1,500 free packages of EC per year. We distribute these free of charge, in partnership with KHJN and other organizations. 

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• A Fund is exploring other ways of providing contraception. We have provided a $25,000 grant to a local clinic that provides long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCS). We are thinking of supporting a group that is considering sending birth-control pills (Opill) to Eastern Kentucky residents. 

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• State abortion bans prohibit Kentucky medical schools from offering training in abortion care to students and residents. Last year, A Fund explored various ways to pay for out-of-state training for second-year OB/GYN residents at the University of Louisville’s Medical School. But the University decided not to risk its state funding by accepting such a grant.

      Now, two brave University of Louisville residents have applied for, and have been awarded, full scholarships by the University of Oregon. The scholarships cover travel, room, board, and training in abortion care. But these residents would lose their Kentucky tax-dollar-paid stipends as “state employees” (including their malpractice coverage, and other usual employee benefits) for the month they spend in Oregon. A Fund was asked if we could cover these costs (which we might call “embargoed” funds)—a total of $15,000 for the two residents.

      Thanks to you, our generous donors, we are able to provide these funds! I know you will be glad to hear this, as a lack of obstetricians and gynecologists trained in miscarriage and abortion care is another problem that Kentucky will face in a few years.  

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• Male contraceptive methods are also important. A Fund recently awarded an initial grant of $5,000 to the University of Louisville Vasectomy Clinic to offset some of the costs to patients for procedures that cost $695 at a minimum. Post-procedure seminal-fluid testing kits cost about $100 each. Our grant will help fifty patients to save that expense.   

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None of this would be possible without you, our donors. Your loyalty and generosity, even in this difficult environment, have enabled us to find new ways to enable Kentuckians to exercise their right to control their own reproductive lives. We thank you for the support that will enable us to provide that assistance, now and  in the future.

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Yours in hope,