AbouT

Our Vision

We envision a future for Philadelphia and surrounding counties where abortion liberation and other forms of reproductive freedom are normalized and celebrated. Abortion liberation means that  people who seek abortions are free from shame, self-blame, or stigma. In this future, information about all types of abortion care is framed positively and abortion care is easy for anyone to access. 

Community spaces exist to hold space for the range of emotions, including joy, confusion, and grief, that can arise for people making decisions about their reproductive health and wellbeing. All people have access to affordable, high quality care for children, elders, and other family members who need care. 

We understand that true reproductive freedom will require a number of large scale systems changes including: 

• Ample access to stable employment that ensures economic security

• Robust universal healthcare 

• Paid family leave and paid leave to support well-being

• Housing security

• Community-based interventions for addressing harm and supporting healing

• Access to green space and other ways to connect to the earth

In this future, an active and powerful multi-issue movement holds politicians and ourselves accountable to people's needs. We are building a movement of people committed to abortion liberation and reproductive justice within a larger frame of collective liberation.  

Our History

In 1976, Congress banned federal Medicaid coverage for abortion through the Hyde amendment. Then, in 1985, Pennsylvania prohibited state Medicaid coverage for abortion. Since then, ALF-PA has provided funding to thousands of individuals struggling to get by. For those enrolled in Medicaid, the out-of-pocket cost of an abortion–roughly $400 to $3,000–can be insurmountable.

In June 2016, the ALF-PA Board adopted a strategic plan for fiscal years 2017-2019. The process revealed that while funding abortions is a key component to ALF-PA’s work, it does not go far enough. To ensure abortion access today and always, ALF-PA expanded our mission to include advocacy and community organizing. We also intentionally set out to make connections between abortion access and racial and economic justice.