The Women’s Funding Network, a coalition of more than 120 women’s funds and foundations, has pledged to protect abortion access and reproductive justice and is calling on donors and philanthropies to join them in the effort.

The call comes in the wake of the leaked draft opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which suggests that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, will be overturned this summer. In its latest callout, Women’s Funding Network laid out five actions that donors and philanthropy at large could take in support of reproductive justice: Giving to local abortion funds and independent abortion providers and trust that they have the experience to use the funds where they are most needed; listen, learn, and follow the lead of people on the front lines, particularly those who have had abortions, as well as the BIPOC-led organizations that will be disproportionately affected; plan for the future while acknowledging the past; encourage collaboration among funders and philanthropy-serving organizations, organizers, lawyers, etc.; and invest in existing movement infrastructure for the long term. 

“We understand that the struggle we face now has been building over decades,” the letter signed by dozens of WFN members and supporters states. “We recognize the need to move beyond rapid response funding toward multi-year investments in bold movement building work led by the communities at the center of injustice in order to build power for the long-term. This will require multiple philanthropic giving strategies.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/N Guardia)