The Jewish Fund for Abortion Access powers the fight for reproductive freedom — activating the Jewish community and directing urgent, real-time funding to protect, expand, and deliver reproductive health care to those who need it most.
Our history
In May 2022, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) created the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access (the Jewish Fund) to provide urgently needed, real-time support to face growing threats. The Jewish Fund was built as a uniquely Jewish, community-driven response — part of our broader work to mobilize the Jewish community, shift the public narrative, and meet this moment with care, compassion, and action.
We quickly raised over $1 million, following the Supreme Court’s decision to take away the federal right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Partnering with the National Abortion Federation (NAF), we funded over 10,000 patients’ travel costs to receive care, most of whom were from rural Texas where abortion had been banned since September 2021. These funds helped to address a newly critical need for transportation for patients who need to travel long distances to access care.
The Jewish Fund proved to be exactly what the Jewish community needed to galvanize together in this critical moment.
The need
The state of reproductive health care is dire: More than half of US states have banned or severely restricted abortion care. As 200 Planned Parenthood health centers across 24 states face closure, over 1.1 million patients are at risk of losing access to basic care. Patients are being sent home to miscarry, airlifted across state lines, or denied care altogether. Our country is in the midst of a health care and moral emergency. The health care system is failing to meet their needs, and it is failing to uphold the dignity, bodily autonomy, and religious freedom our nation claims to protect.
The work of NCJW’s Jewish Fund For Abortion Access is more imperative than ever.
Jewish tradition permits — and at times requires — abortion when the life of the pregnant person is at stake. Our Jewish values compel us to support abortion access as essential health care. After learning more about The Fund, we hope you are willing to take the next step, and support our work today.
What comes next
In 2023 following our initial $1million in grants, NCJW launched the next phase of the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access to pivot to meet the long-term reality of reproductive health care in the post-Dobbs world.
Our current approach focuses on funding efforts that affect both timely and systemic change. The Jewish Fund’s grantees are part of a critical patchwork of care that includes access to contraception, fertility treatments, prenatal care, pre- and post-abortion care, accurate medical and legal information, and essential wraparound services. Grants are provided to local Jewish communities and NCJW sections, to organizations helping patients access essential care, and to provide emergency resources in moments of crisis.
Looking to get involved?
Support our work and ongoing Jewish commitment to reproductive freedom and make a gift.