Dive Brief:

• New York City this week announced it would launch what it described as the first-of-its-kind Abortion Access Hub — a phone line that confidentially connects callers to licensed abortion care providers within the city’s five boroughs, according to a city press release. 
• Through the phone number 877-NYC-AHUB, so-called “navigators” will connect people seeking care to clinical partners and providers that offer resources such as financial support for the procedure, transportation, lodging and Medicaid enrollment. 
• Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that the program is in response to the conservative-controlled U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade in July, allowing states to ban abortion care. “New York City will continue to respect, protect, and fulfill the core tenets of our fundamental right to choose and will fight to ensure quality, affordable healthcare is accessible to all those who seek an abortion,” Adams said.   

Dive Insight:

Since the Supreme Court overturned the right to seek abortion care in July, many cities have used local powers to protect access to the medical procedure. 

For instance, Cincinnati passed an ordinance allowing the city’s health plan to provide city employees with abortion care access. Ohio has banned all abortions after six weeks. Many prosecutors throughout the country have vowed not to prosecute individuals who seek or provide abortion care. And some cities, such as San Diego and Minneapolis, passed resolutions or signed executive orders declaring themselves safe havens for reproductive freedom or reproductive rights. 

New York City, where the procedure is still legal, is “a safe haven for anyone seeking to access a safe, legal abortion,” Adams said in the press release. The city, in recent months, passed several bills intended to strengthen abortion protections, such as making abortion pills free at Department of Health and Mental Hygiene clinics. 

The Abortion Access Hub, paid for through a “$1 million investment,” will be staffed by navigators and managers, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The hub staffs speakers of several different languages who are trained on customer service, confidentiality, sexual and reproductive justice and gender-inclusive services, the press release stated. All calls are confidential and anonymous and no identifying information will be collected or recorded.