Hi john,

Kim here. Some of you know me as the organization’s first Development Director… the one who historically has been bugging you to donate to AAF (like now… adding a shameless DONATE BUTTON below). Seriously, we need you to support our work during another terrifying year for abortion access and I’m going to tell you why.

A truly stupendous thing about AAF is that we train folks to become front-line activists, and that includes low-key office types like me (and many of you who volunteer with us - thank you!). Over the years I’ve joined rallies at the Supreme Court, counter protests against scary extremists like Operation Save America, and clinic defense actions when abortion providers desperately needed our help.

One of the best things about AAF is that everyone on the team goes into the field and works on the ground. It was that experience, being out on the road working alongside other inspiring activists that shifted my long-term priorities. I felt called to take what I was learning at AAF back to my home state of Tennessee, where passionate local residents are fighting like hell for abortion. So I moved back home to join them. 

In a weird coincidence, my hometown of Bristol, which straddles the Virginia/Tennessee state line, has become a pivotal place for abortion access after the fall of Roe. When the Dobbs decision was released, the clinic where I volunteered as an escort was forced to close because it was in Tennessee (a ban state), and abortion services moved one mile north across the state line into Virginia. This new clinic is now the closest abortion provider for a huge swath of the South where abortion is banned or limited to six weeks! 

That's me facing off against Operation Save America’s then president Rusty Thomas in Madison WI.

Anti-abortion forces quickly set their sights on Bristol, VA… trying to chip away at abortion access in the state by pushing “sanctuary city for the unborn” ordinances. That’s when my activist friends and I founded State Line Abortion Access Partners (SLAAP), a local organization that supports access to comprehensive reproductive health care in central Appalachia. 

AAF has been a huge resource to SLAAP… driving new supporters and volunteers to us, promoting our Amazon wishlist, and helping us create patient after-care bags. With this support, SLAAP was able to derail three attempts to pass anti-abortion ordinances, while also supporting folks who travel to our region for abortion care and distributing free emergency contraception and condoms in our community. 

We could not have launched SLAAP without the skills I learned at AAF, and without unwavering support from Lizz, the AAF staff, and generous supporters like you. This is at the heart of what AAF does—working with local activists across the country—providing training, resources, and spotlighting some of the most important activism at the state and local level.

This election year, while politicians continue to weaponize our bodies at every level of government, AAF will be there working on the front lines, helping activists across the country continue their work of fighting for abortion access. Your support of AAF will ensure we can always show up for our local partners. Because no one is more important to making real and lasting change than folks working in their own communities to save abortion!

I’m so fortunate to be able to do this work… Thank you for making it possible.