This month, BAF hosted its first-ever movie night! On this evening of education, commiseration, and community building, we screened an all-new documentary: Preconceived: The Unexpected World of Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Not so coincidentally, our movie night took place just a stone’s throw away from both Planned Parenthood and Baltimore’s very own CPC, Options Baltimore. As a follow-up to this event, we compiled the following information to contextualize the crisis of CPC’s within the state of Maryland and reiterate the need for a well-resourced pro-abortion movement.

As we mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision on June 24, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the profound changes and challenges it has brought, celebrate our community's resilience and growth, and share more about what comes next for BAF.

Sentences that start off supporting abortion access sometimes end with unnecessary caveats. In the movement for abortion rights and reproductive justice, we’ve all heard statements like, “I think abortion should be legal, but I don’t think people should use abortion as birth control,” or “I support abortion rights, but I don't think people should have [insert arbitrary number here] abortions.”

But in reality, some people have multiple abortions — and that’s okay.

The Baltimore Abortion Fund is in solidarity with the workers at All* Above All who were laid off following allegations of anti-Black management. Rather than answering calls for racial equity, the organization’s leadership has joined an ongoing trend of punishing workers who courageously take on the emotional labor of demanding accountability.

By Lynn McCann-Yeh and Porsha Pinder
For The Baltimore Sun • Jun 28, 2023 at 7:57 am

In the months following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, progressive cities and states across the country raced to establish themselves as “havens” or “sanctuaries” for people seeking abortion care. Twelve states, including Maryland, and Washington, D.C., have since passed laws to make abortion more accessible by strengthening legal protections, shielding providers and patients from litigation, and — in some cases — setting aside state funding for abortion seekers.

As an organization working to expand abortion access in one of these so-called safe havens, we can definitively say that putting our faith in sanctuary states is a mistake.