Study examines characteristics of those who called Ky. abortion fund for financial, practical support

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – A study published last week analyzed administrative data from Kentucky Health Justice Network (KHJN), a Louisville-based advocacy organization, and compared it with abortion data from the state’s Department of Public Health to learn more about the those who seek support from abortion funds.

Researchers chose the Bluegrass State because “Kentuckians seeking abortion care have long had to overcome many hurdles with fewer resources, making it a compelling context for inquiry.”

From 2014 to 2021, the KHJN Support Fund, an abortion fund that provides financial assistance, transportation, interpretation and other practical support to those seeking to terminate their pregnancies, helped 6,162 people. In that same time frame, Kentucky’s health department reported 28,741 people had abortions in the state.

Overall, both organizations reported that most callers and patients were white, between 20-24 years old and between 7- and 9-weeks’ gestation.

However, KHJN helped a higher percentage of people who were Black or another race, young and later in pregnancy compared with those who received abortions in Kentucky — groups the researchers identified as “structurally marginalized.”

• Women under 30 represented 73.3% of patients reported by the state, while 68.4% of KHJN’s callers were 29 or younger.
• 42.7% of KHJN callers were Black, compared with 30.5% of abortion patients who received abortions in-state
• Nearly 5% of women who sought help from KHJN were at 21-weeks’ gestation or later in their pregnancies, while only 1% of abortions in Kentucky were provided that late in pregnancy. Abortions between 14- and 20-weeks’ gestation accounted for 9.5% of Kentucky’s total; pregnancies within those gestational limits accounted for 16.1% of KHJN callers.

The study did not have data on whether callers received abortions after they contacted KHJN. And KHJN supports women who travel out of state to end their pregnancies, meaning that the data from the abortion fund may have represented people who were not a part of the state’s abortion data.

The study was funded by the Society of Family Planning through their Inequities in Abortion Access grant. Read it here.