The Chicago Abortion Fund, the largest abortion fund in the country, took more calls from and spent more money on behalf of women seeking an abortion last quarter than any other quarter in its more-than-40 year history.
Founded in 1985, the Chicago Abortion Fund answered 5,000 calls in the first three months of this year, around 750 more calls compared to the same period the year before. The organization also spent nearly $3 million this year, thanks to rising travel, childcare and grocery costs, compared to $1.37 million last year.
“It’s layered. On the one hand, I’m incredibly grateful that we are still here, meeting all that this moment requires of us, and haven’t had to turn anyone who is relying on Illinois for care away.” Chicago Abortion Fund executive director Megan Jeyifo told the Sun-Times. “I’m also really sad, because I know what people are experiencing to access this kind of health care, how hard it is.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade four years ago, tens of thousands of abortion-seekers have had to travel across state lines in order to receive care. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights, since 2022 nearly a quarter of all patients who traveled across state lines for an abortion received their care in Illinois.
Of those who traveled to Illinois for abortion care, 43% received direct support from the Chicago Abortion Fund.
Illinois received approximately 32,000 out-of-state patients last year. North Carolina came in a distant second, with 18,000 abortion seekers crossing state lines.
The abortion fund operates entirely from donations and does not require patients to pay a fee for service. Cook County gave the organization a $2 million grant last year to lower barriers to abortion access. But Jeyifo worries that the money in their coffers might not be enough.
“The fear is that the need could eventually outpace our funding,” Jeyifo said. “Almost every month we are seeing record breaking numbers [of patients]. That’s just the reality of where we are.”
The 2025 fiscal year average appointment voucher was $390, but for the 2026 fiscal year it has risen to $560. Wrap-around support costs, including travel, childcare and meals for patients, rose from $420 last year to $700 this year.
Jeyifo explained that Illinois is a hotspot for abortion care because of its proximity to states with abortion bans or tight restrictions. Indiana and Kentucky both have complete abortion bans with limited exceptions, while Indiana has a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
“We genuinely are in the middle of it all,” Jeyifo said. “So the community here was preparing for the overturning of Roe v. Wade far longer than most people even realized it was a possibility.”
The abortion fund cited travel expenses, including rising gas prices and delays at airports as further reasons for the increased spending in the first three months of the year.
Jeyifo said the expenses for travel, lodging and taking time off work to receive abortion care can add up quickly, especially in states with more restrictions. North Carolina, for example, has a 72-hour waiting period between a patient’s first pre-abortion visit and their actual abortion appointment, which could increase costs for patients.
“In Illinois, we’ve tried to make it as straightforward as possible,” Jeyifo said. “Because in Illinois, abortion is not political. It is health care, and we’re aiming to make sure that we treat it as such.”