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We provide educational programs & financial assistance
for the reproductive health care needs of low income women. We do this by working directly with local clinics.
Women in need of funding should have their clinic contact WHEF on their behalf.
We help about 200 women per year obtain abortion care. Women can usually afford about half the
cost of a procedure, the clinics reduce their fees, and we make up the difference (averaging about $125 per woman).
Besides women who cannot afford an abortion, we also provide undocumented women and women who are in abusive relationships
with assistance in terminating unwanted pregnancies. The good news is that RIteCare, Rhode Island’s
Medical Assistance Program, provides excellent contraceptive care. The program covers all FDA-approved forms of contraception.
However, thousands of women are not eligible for RIteCare. Women who do not have children and who work low-wage
jobs that do not provide health insurance cannot get contraceptive care through RIteCare. Title X provides some funding
for uninsured women, but many are turned away. In our effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies, the Women's Health
and Education Fund started the Contraception Access Program. We provide flat grants to family planning
clinics to help them meet the needs of women seeking contraceptive care but have no insurance and aren't eligible for
Title X funds. We help nearly 500 women per year access both regular contraceptive care and emergency contraception
(the morning after pill). We also join in action with other pro-choice individuals and organizations
to promote policy changes so that women may have access to reproductive health care. We were active in the passage of
the Prescription Equity Act that requires all Rhode Island health insurers
to include contraception as part of their coverage. We support comprehensive sex education and work in coalition to
support pro-choice initiatives both locally and nationally.
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