In 2025, DC continues to stand at the epicenter of the abortion access movement.

The good news? Washington, DC continues to be a haven for abortion seekers in the region and those across the country. The bad news? What happens across the nation causes a domino effect into our backyards—directly impacting our funding, fundraising, operations, and messaging.

past reports

FY 2025 • ANNUAL REPORT •

FY 2025 • ANNUAL REPORT •

A LOVE LETTER TO OUR COMMUNITY

We cannot look back at the past year at DCAF without discussing the ripple effects across the nation.

Like so many issues, abortion access does not exist in a silo. So as we share how we hustled, rallied, and celebrated the right to bodily autonomy throughout FY 2025, we’re painting a side-by–side comparison of precursor events across state lines.

In the past year, we faced a conservative, anti-abortion takeover of all three branches of government, a federal takeover of DC MPD, increased threats to DC Home Rule, financial insecurity for many donors, and a loss of our sanctuary city status. At DCAF, we were faced with tough impossible decisions—having to close down our lines, fund fewer clinics, set pledge tiers, and fund fewer out-of-state callers.

And yet, rather than fold, we doubled down.

We rallied, advocated, strategized, and did everything in our power to protect bodily autonomy for those in the DC region and across the nation. We partied. We danced. We marched. We fundraised a jaw-dropping $1,575,111 for abortion access, aiding 3,126 callers.

And none of it would be possible without you. Thank you for bringing joy when we feel anger, for posing solutions when faced with constant battles, and for standing up for our rights when those rights are threatened.

With love and rage,

Your DC Abortion Fund

Celebration through our hellscape:
A look back at 2024–2025.

Hear our rally cry

Disclaimer about our data:

The DC Abortion Fund analyzed data taken from our warm lines over the past fiscal year, from July 2024 to June 2025. Below, we cite third-party resources to tell a broader story. Any statistic without a hyperlink is sourced from our own, raw data. Note: Some numbers may have a minimal variance due to fulfillment rate—i.e., DCAF pledges that ultimately went unused by callers.

Special thanks to our data connoisseur, Francisco Brady, for all his work in aggregating our data.

You raised $1,575,111 for abortion access.

Our average pledge was $531.

Or roughly the cost of a first-trimester abortion.

We helped 3,126 people access abortion.

187 more people than last year.

We pledged $170,974 in a single month.

In June 2025, our all-time high for the year.

We set a budget of $34,000 a week.

Yet routinely burned through $40,000+ to fund our callers.

We needed $9,556,324 to fully fund every caller.

Total expected abortion costs per month.

$1,084,460

The most we needed in a single month (June 2025).

$415,106

The least we needed in a single month (or really, two weeks, since we closed down our lines for half the month).

$796,360

The average amount needed per month to fully fund every caller.

$113,163

The average amount pledged per month—just 17% of what we needed.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE: A LOOK BACK AT 2025

The DC domino effect:
How national issues have catastrophic, local consequences.

The abortion access movement—particularly in DC—is constantly under siege. More than ever, we found ourselves navigating through a labyrinth of changing legislation, national budget cuts, and threats to DC home rule.

WHY WE FIELDED 1,937 LESS CALLS THAN 2024

National organizations slashed funding —placing increased burden on local abortion funds.

DCAF fielded 5,123 calls this year—compared to 7,060 calls in FY 2024. Why? After Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation slashed pledges nationwide, we routinely closed our lines Thursday—Sunday to preserve our budget. And yet, we were still burning through $40,000 a week, more than our allotted $34,000 weekly budget.

Total number of calls per month

NATIONAL CAUSE

Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation slash funding.

Reducing pledges from 50% to just 30% in July 2024.

LOCAL IMPACT

Increased pressure is placed on local funds.

Just one month later, DCAF experienced a 22% spike in calls compared to the year before.

dcaf result

We shut down our lines for two weeks straight for the first time in history.

By November 2024, we had to shut down our lines for half the month just to stay afloat.

WHY THE GESTATIONAL AGE IS 2X HIGHER FOR OUT-OF-STATE CALLERS

Red state bans continued to push callers further into pregnancy.

This is going to be tough to read, but here it is: We don’t need more state ballots. Instead, we need to restore abortion access everywhere. Abortion bans disguised as “term limits” only push people further into pregnancy—and we have the facts to prove it.

The average gestational age of out-of-state callers at intake (23.1 weeks at the appointment).

The average gestational age of DC-region callers at intake (10.8 weeks at the appointment).

21.8 weeks
10.1 weeks

NATIONAL CAUSE

Abortion bans and restrictions take effect.

Forcing people to navigate waiting periods, confusing laws, fake abortion clinics (“crisis pregnancy centers”), and limited appointments.

LOCAL IMPACT

People are pushed further into pregnancy.

Callers search for appointments in access states, adding on time for travel, hotel accommodations, and other logistics.

dcaf result

The average gestational age of out-of-state callers is 23 weeks.

This, in turn, causes increasingly expensive, emotionally-taxing, and complicated procedures. Callers face multi-day procedures out-of-state, all while facing the increased risk of later pregnancy.

WHY WE’RE FUNDING MORE AND MORE $5,000+ PROCEDURES

Criminalizing, banning, and restricting abortion causes later, and more expensive, procedures.

The majority (59%) of DCAF-funded procedures cost less than $750—or a 1st trimester abortion. However, the second-largest cost bracket for callers is $5,000+—or procedures occurring after 25 weeks.

Number of callers per cost bracket

NATIONAL CAUSE

Abortion bans push people further into pregnancy.

As they struggle to make an appointment and get funding in a different state.

LOCAL IMPACT

The cost of the procedure jumps from $750 to $5,000+.

If the caller had been able to access care in their home state, the procedure would have been one-sixth the cost.

dcaf result

We can only fund one caller, instead of six.

Procedures costing $5,000+ has become our second-highest populated cost bracket, putting further strain on our budget. 

WHY THE SOUTHEAST DEPENDS ON WASHINGTON, DC

Ambiguous restrictions and outright bans caused an influx of out-of-state callers.

In 2025, DCAF was forced to further prioritize callers from DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Due to an influx of callers and strained budgets, we had limited funds available for out-of-state callers—at a time when those from the Southeast need us most.

227

Calls from Florida

In Florida, an initiative to amend the state constitution—aiming to overturn the six week ban, protecting abortion up to “viability”—failed, even with 57% of the vote. The undemocratic measure needed 60% to pass.

140

Calls from GEORGIA

In Georgia, a superior court struck down the state’s six-week ban in September 2024, only to have their Supreme Court reinstate it just one week later.

123

Calls from North Carolina

North Carolina experienced a 45% increase in abortion procedures from 2020 to 2024, caused by an influx of those from total-ban states. Combined with a mandatory 72 hour waiting period, and a forced counseling session, it’s increasingly difficult to get an appointment.

62

Calls from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has a 23-week abortion ban in place, with parental consent, physician requirement, and a 24-hour waiting period (after counseling) restrictions in place. Just 18 abortion providers remain in the entire state, with residents traveling an average of 250 miles for care.

52

Calls from South Carolina

In South Carolina, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold a six-week ban in May 2025. The next month, the court ruled 6–3 to defund Planned Parenthood from its state Medicaid program.

CALLER DEMOGRAPHICS

A lack of abortion access disproportionately impacts those from marginalized communities.

CALLER RACE

The overwhelming majority (or 92%) of our callers are from Black and Brown communities.

74.59%
of reporting callers are Black.

11.66%
of reporting callers are Hispanic/Latino/a/x

1.7%
of reporting callers are Asian.

4.25%
of reporting callers’ preferred language is not English.

Caller demographics

CALLER AGE

118 callers are under the age of 18.

Minors should not be forced to be parents. Period. According to the Guttmacher Institute, roughly 2% of people obtaining an abortion are ages 17 and under. DC does not have parental consent laws, making it safe for minors (particularly those from high-surveillance states) to access abortion.

CALLERS FACING HOUSING INSTABILITY

Many callers are unhoused or face housing insecurity.

Research shows that approximately 19% of abortions are among those experiencing homelessness or housing instability. In addition, unhoused people are often at a later gestational age (13.3 weeks) than those who do not face housing instability (9.5 weeks). Why? Because an unhoused caller will often reschedule due to logistical, financial, and geographical barriers, thereby pushing them further into pregnancy. Such barriers include*:

✓ Many callers do not have access to a phone or transportation.

✓ They cannot pay their phone bill (or have a phone using credits), and miss notifications for upcoming appointments.

✓ They lack practical support, including childcare, time off work, and rides to appointments.

✓ They do not have the means to deal with high-stakes travel, including missed or delayed flights.

✓ They face financial insecurity, and cannot close a funding gap on their own.

*While we do not have quantitative data regarding our unhoused callers, DCAF case managers provided anecdotal data on how housing insecurity negatively impacts abortion access.

THE FIGHT WE’RE UP AGAINST

Rising to the challenge and protecting our community.

Since Republicans took control of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, abortion access and Washington, DC have come under attack.

NOVEMBER ‘24

Threats to abortion access.

Abortion rights lost at the ballot for the first time since the overturn of Roe—protecting abortion rights in seven states but losing in Nebraska, North Dakota, and Florida.

june ‘25

Threats to Black and Brown communities.

The House passes the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, ending our sanctuary city status.

AUGUST ‘25

Threats to the unhoused.

Trump clears homeless encampments across the city, saying unhoused individuals will face fines, jail time, or criminal penalties for noncompliance.

AUGUST ‘25

Threats to DC Home Rule.

Trump deploys the National Guard and places the MPD under federal control, invoking 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

DCAF SOLUTIONS

Celebrating DCAF resilience: How we rally, strategize, and implement new solutions for our callers.

Did conservatives and anti-abortion activists honestly think we’d back down? We’ve been in this battle for 30+ years and know how to pivot to best support our community.

DCAF SOLUTIONS: DECREASED WAIT TIMES

We scrape together funding in just 5.8 days—a 1.7 day improvement from 2024.

The faster we can collect funding for a caller, the earlier they can get an appointment. The earlier they can get an appointment, the less costly the procedure (thereby allowing us to support more callers).

DCAF SOLUTIONS: WEEKLY BUDGETS

We follow a weekly (not monthly) budget, and shut down our lines when we exceed it.

In July 2024, we experienced a 22% increase in calls compared to the year prior. Unable to keep up with demand, we made the impossible decision to shut down our lines for two weeks straight in November—thereby experiencing a 59% decrease in calls compared to November 2023. By May 2025, after six months of routinely shutting down our lines, we were still struggling to stick to our budget, causing a 46% decrease in calls from the year prior.

Percent change in callers compared to 2024.

DCAF SOLUTIONS: PROTECTING OUR CALLERS

Advocating for safe travel to and around the DC region.

DCAF exists to fund abortions, period. But as a grassroots organization, advocacy and messaging is an ongoing component of what we do. We need callers to understand: Abortion is legal in DC, even during a hostile, federal takeover. That said, we recommend the following safety precautions for both in- and out-of-state callers:

  • ✓ Know your rights by viewing this ACLU guide.

    ✓ Get clear on what is federal vs. city property in DC.

    ✓ Understand where federal checkpoints may happen by following Dear White Staffers and Notify DC.

  • ✓ Consider flying into BWI (located in MD, with a progressive governor) rather than DCA or IAD, and taking the Marc Train.

    ✓ Travel with buddies or in groups.

    ✓ Turn off Face ID on your phone and switch to password only.

    ✓ Opt-out of facial recognition by TSA.

    ✓ Wear sunglasses, masks, or hats to deter facial recognition software.

  • ✓ DC Migrant Mutual Aid (immigrant aid).

    ✓ Remora House DC (unhoused aid).

    ✓ Volare (crime survivor support).

To our incredibly resilient, loud-and-proud community—we wouldn’t have gotten through this past year without you.

Raising $1.58M is an incredible feat. But the fact that we raised $19,671 more than last year—during a year when DC autonomy and bodily autonomy were being attacked from all sides? Now that is cause for celebration.

We can’t deny it: FY 2025 took its toll. We were forced to prioritize local callers, do a hard-close of our lines (every.single.week), fund fewer clinics, setting capped pledge tiers, and make other tough decisions. And yet, we helped over 3,000 people access abortion. Proving, yet again, that if you believe in bodily autonomy, local abortion funds are the answer. 

And we couldn’t have done it without you.

To our neighbors, thank you for showing up and standing up for bodily autonomy throughout this chaotic year. We can’t wait to see what comes next, for all of us.

XO, DCAF

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