"There appears to be no major crowdfunding site that allows people to use their social networks to fundraise for an abortion," Samantha Master writes for Rewire, recounting her experience working with a teenager seeking funding for medication abortion.
After "explor[ing] all of [their] options," Master and the teenager "[i]n a last-ditch effort ... created a YouCaring page, citing a need for support with 'medical expenses,'" Master explains. However, the "fundraiser was not up for 20 minutes before" YouCaring informed Master and the teenager that said page would be removed. According to Master, the message stated, "'YouCaring focuses on bringing communities together in support of non-divisive causes. In this case, we feel there could be conflict stemming from abortion the use of (sic) our platform to raise funds.'"
Master calls YouCare's use of term "divisive" to describe abortion access a "flippant dismissal of those in need of important and imperative health care." She adds, "And to be clear, abortion is health care."
According to Master, YouCare's move "is not the first time a major crowdfunding site for personal expenses has discriminatorily denied those seeking abortion access a fundraising space." She notes that GoFundMe in 2014 "banned content related to abortions because these fundraisers were not 'appropriate' for the site, as they contained 'subject matter that GoFundMe would rather not be associated with.'"
Master states that through these actions, the sites "have affirmed that users can raise money for 'medical expenses,' except for the legal, safe, and necessary medical procedure they would 'rather not be associated with.'"
Master explains that "in a country where Black women have the same maternal mortality rates as those in developing nations; where we lack a federal minimum wage that allows people to afford a two-bedroom apartment at market rent; and where there is no federal legislation mandating paid parental leave, health insurance for undocumented people, or Medicaid, Medicare, or military coverage for abortion, crowdfunding sites like YouCaring and GoFundMe are crucial mediums where [people] can seek community support in ending a pregnancy." She writes, "The targeted silencing of those seeking funding to access an abortion using these online fundraising platforms is more than troubling; it sends a clear message that abortion is not health care."
According to Master, "For low-income people, abortion care is denied at almost every step." She cites financial hurdles, including insurance coverage barriers and challenges to raising enough funding to cover the cost of the procedure, as well as logistical hurdles, such as "clinic inaccessibility and mandatory [delays] -- that drive up expenses."
Crowdfunding sites can enable people to mitigate some of these challenges by facilitating material support from users' social networks to "achiev[e] what they need without having to take out loans or pawn their belongings," Master writes. Yet "[w]hen YouCaring and GoFundMe insert themselves as barriers to abortion access to people with uteri, they become little more than enablers and perpetuators of shame and stigma," she explains. Masters continues, "This behavior prevents those who are most in need of assistance from getting the support that may save their lives."
Master concludes, "Crowdfunding sites are reinforcing the belief that abortion is somehow outside of the realm of acceptable health care -- it's not. It's time that platforms that exist to help people fundraise for their needs stop invalidating abortion as health care" (Master, Rewire, 10/21).
