When the Dobbs decision dropped in June, Massachusetts lawmakers responded with new legislation making Massachusetts a sanctuary state for abortion care — including telehealth abortion care provided to patients in states that have banned the procedure.
Lawmakers weren’t the only ones taking action in the Commonwealth. In mid-October, just four months after Dobbs, The Boston Foundation (TBF) announced the first grants made by its new Fund for Reproductive Health. The initial commitment of $56,800 to four nonprofits represents barely a fraction of the roughly $16 million in non-DAF money the foundation moves each year, but it’s a start — and it makes a statement.
The fund itself provides a form of sanctuary for abortion care, helping to insure that both Massachusetts residents and those fleeing their own states for care will be served. More than that, though, the announcement demonstrates a belief that abortion access is the kind of accepted, mainstream cause that community foundations can and should get behind.
The decision to start the fund came about as TBF was working on its press statement condemning the Dobbs decision; a statement that ultimately included an announcement of the new fund. “We knew on some level that Massachusetts could end up being a sanctuary for people seeking abortions,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer Kate Guedj, “so as we were developing the statement, we said we should launch a fund for reproductive health so we can respond.”
While the reproductive health fund may have resulted directly from TBF’s deliberations while creating its Dobbs statement, the inspiration also comes from “Our New Pathway,” the foundation’s strategic plan announced in April, with core strategies that include repairing “the harm caused by structural economic, social, gender and racial disparities” and a commitment to using its grantmaking to close racial wealth gaps. The clarity of articulation and vision embodied in the New Pathway, Guedj said, led TBF to weigh in on Dobbs.
The core belief behind both the New Pathway and the new reproductive health fund is that “the rights of women, minorities and the LGBTQ community are paramount to making Greater Boston better,” Guedj said. “It’s not a zero-sum game.”
“The right to life, and the importance of abiding by the will of the people with regard to the sanctity of life, is one thing. But when it harms others, intentionally or unintentionally, it’s important to bring that to light,” she said.
The new fund’s initial two-year grants are firmly grounded in a sanctuary mission, with all four of the first grantees planning to use the money to address issues involved in serving the expected influx of non-resident patients seeking abortion care. Reproductive Equity Now is collaborating with the state’s attorney general on referral services for patients, providers and volunteer helpers. HealthQ, a healthcare center that provides services including abortion and gender-affirming care (which is also protected under the new Massachusetts law), is expanding to serve out-of-state residents. The Eastern Massachussetts Abortion Fund (EMA) will use the grant to sustain services to people fleeing their own states for abortion care, and the TIDES Fund for Reproductive Freedom (not affiliated with the Tides Foundation), a queer, Black and Indigenous-led organization, provides “practical and financial support for people across race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, ethnicity, ability and history seeking access to abortion services.”
Guedj said that The Boston Foundation had received a “nice response” from donors following the creation of the Fund for Reproductive Health, which was seeded with $25,000 from the TBF’s Permanent Fund for Boston.
The Boston Foundation’s new reproductive health fund currently represents a small sum in a very large and still-underfunded fight. Even as the grants no doubt make a meaningful difference to the individuals they will benefit, it may be tempting at first glance to dismiss it as a token effort. Doing so would be a mistake.
Symbolically, this fund has the potential to be the start of something important — particularly if it becomes a lasting, growing segment of the foundation’s giving. Boston’s community foundation is one of the oldest in the country. It’s also one of the largest. These dual distinctions carry a lot of weight. By choosing to fund abortion access as part of its core mission of serving the greater wellbeing of the Boston area, this funder is saying the quiet part out loud: that despite the massive efforts of religious extremists to make it so, the right to abortion care isn’t a controversial issue for the majority of Americans. With luck, increasing numbers of community foundations, other mainstream funders, and politically moderate large donors will get the message.
NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect that the foundation's annual discretionary grantmaking is $16 million.