Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO)

In 2022, the organization changed its name to Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO), apologizing that its former name disrespected transgender and nonbinary people because the name implied that non-women could not have abortions. ¹ The organization is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds, an umbrella organization providing financial assistance for women seeking abortions across America. ¹

Founding and History

Women Have Options was founded in 1992 by Emily Rutherford in Gainesville, Ohio. ¹ After Rutherford helped pay for a friend’s abortion she decided to create a fund in Ohio, which together with funds from 14 other states created the National Network of Abortion Funds, an umbrella organization providing financial assistance to women seeking abortions that claims an estimate 76 abortion funds in its network. ¹

Around 2022, the organization changed its name to the Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO), stating that “we know that our legacy name, Women Have Options, has played a role in the erasure and silencing of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming Ohioans,” adding that “women are not the only people needing abortions.” ¹

Abortion Activism

Abortion Fund of Ohio offers funding, transportation, logistical, housing, and legal assistance for women in Ohio seeking abortions and contraceptives. ² This includes providing support for women to access medicated abortions and self-managed abortions. ² The organization also promotes the contact information and address of the abortion clinics that remain open in Ohio while various abortion restrictions are being discussed in the state legislature and are litigated in the courts. ²

The original organization, Women Have Options, expressed the view that every woman has the “non-negotiable human right” to have an abortion. The organization claims that those who access their fund receive an average of $100 to help cover the costs associated with abortion. ³ In 2017, the fund received contributions and grants of $231,954 to help fund abortion access. ⁴ That year, $85,027 in cash payments were sent to abortion clinics not only in Ohio, but also Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. ⁵

The organization also conducts political advocacy and litigates against abortion restrictions. ⁶ Additionally, the fund sells merchandise featuring left-of-center slogans like “Police Won’t Protect You,” “Fund Abortion or F*ck Off,” and “abortion is essential.” ⁷ One of their shirts features four pro-abortion advocates calling them “our patron saints” while condemning “the Catholic Church’s harassment & intimidation of patients at local abortion clinics.” ⁸ Contrary to the traditional left-of-center mantra of “safe, legal, and rare,” the organization sells shirts for purchasers to publicize their abortions, including those that read in block letters “I’ve had abortions” and “I had an abortion.” ⁷

State and Local Partners

The organization partners with a wide variety of activists groups, especially those focused on left-of-center sexual, cultural, and abortion advocacy. Partners include Black Queer and Intersectional Collective, Central Ohio Sex Worker Outreach, Ohio State University Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Region of Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio (Education), Students for a Democratic Society at OSU, American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, Ohio Progressive Collaborative, Ohio Southern Poverty Law Center, Socialist Alternative, the Sierra Club, Women’s Public Policy Network, America Votes, LGBTQ+ Leadership Roundtable Coalition, and the National Network of Abortion Funds. ^{9 10}