Yellowhammer Fund’s announcement that it acquired the West Alabama Women’s Center made headlines across the nation this weekend, with local and national press reporting on our newest project.
Mother Jones reporter Becca Andrews broke the story Friday morning, calling it, “[M]ore than a local victory. In fact, it may herald a shift in abortion care strategy much more broadly.” We definitely hope that’s true.
Local news outlets in Alabama also covered the acquisition, which was announced on the one year anniversary of Alabama signing a total abortion ban into law (that law has been blocked by courts, leaving abortion still legal in the state to this day). As AL.com reporter Abbey Crain noted, this is the first time on record that an abortion fund has purchased a clinic that performs abortions, and a logical extension for an organization that already funded $250,000 worth of abortion procedures just during 2019. And as Tuscaloosa News’ Jason Morton reports, this new acquisition will allow the clinic to expand its services in the future, adding more options such as contraceptives, STI treatments and even trans-inclusive healthcare.
Multiple papers picked up the AP News wire article about our new clinic, including ABC News. Time Magazine also ran a short story on the purchase and the anniversary of the abortion ban, with all outlets pointing out the ironic conclusion that this clinic acquisition never could have happened if the far right state legislature hadn’t overreached with their ban, causing a flood of donations to come to our Fund. “I said this a year ago. What they didn’t anticipate they would do is help us increase abortion access in Alabama,” our Executive Director Amanda Reyes told the AP.
Happy Baniversary, y’all! Thank you for helping us make it one no one will ever forget!