Healthline
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ABOUT ACCESS RJ Programs

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ACCESS is dedicated to ensuring that every person has the information, resources, and support they need to make the reproductive and sexual health decisions that are right for them. For many, ACCESS is one of very few sources of truly unbiased and honest information and support for their reproductive health needs.

ACCESS, we know that barriers to abortion access do not exist in a vacuum and acknowledge the many intersecting truths our callers hold, such as housing insecurity, systemic racism in and out of the medical-industrial complex, violence from the state, and more. ACCESS works together with our callers to provide as much support and wraparound care as possible. 

The Healthline Department encompasses the Healthline program and the Practical Support Volunteer (PSV) program. The Healthline is a bilingual Spanish and English line that connects people throughout California and beyond to logistical and practical support, information, referrals, and advocacy on sexual and reproductive health issues, with abortion care at the top of the list. Our Healthline has operated since ACCESS was founded in 1993 and, in 2019, we supported 354 callers (individuals who reached out to ACCESS seeking support with care). To meet the many and varying needs of our callers, ACCESS has a dedicated team of rotating Healthline volunteers who support by answering calls and creating intakes, connecting callers with resources and support, and facilitating connections among callers, PSVs, and clinics. We offer compassionate care to our callers and understand every person as a whole, as we know that people hold many intersecting identities. We support people in mitigating or eliminating barriers that can make the difference between making their healthcare goals a reality and not having access to healthcare at all. 

Our vast Practical Support network has over 300 active volunteers throughout the state of California who help ACCESS facilitate the logistical support we offer to our callers. ACCESS provides procedural and logistical funding, transportation, lodging, childcare, doula and emotional support, and more to ensure that callers face as few barriers to their care as possible. We have a thorough screening and training process to ensure that volunteers we are bringing onto the ACCESS team are values-aligned and have the tools they need to deliver the standard of compassionate care that we are known for. 

"It was scary thinking I wouldn't be able to get my abortion done because I couldn't afford a motel, then my rides to and from canceled, but, you were there to save the day. My life, rather. I couldn't be more grateful"
Tina
Caller

Our Mission
ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE removes barriers to sexual and reproductive health care and builds the power of Californians to demand health, justice, and dignity.

Our Healthline is operated by trained volunteers who provide information, referrals, and support around abortion care, birth control, health insurance, and more. They also help organize funding, transportation, lodging, childcare, meal funds, doula and emotional support care, and more. 
Volunteers also work on projects which may include:
  • Updating internal referral lists about health care providers and other resources available to low-income and uninsured people in California
  • Coordinating the annual abortion access Fund-A-Thon via the National Network of Abortion Funds
  • Learning about and participating in policy advocacy for abortion access, immigration reform, and more!
The Healthline is open Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm PST. We require all Healthline Volunteers to participate in our Reproductive Justice in Action training prior to volunteering on the Healthline, and ask that volunteers be able to commit to at least one Healthline shift per week. 
Other volunteer roles or internships are custom designed based on the availability of staff members to supervise the position and the project. 

How we work:
The Practical Support Network is a corps of volunteers who assist people in accessing safe, quality abortions and other healthcare services without delay, by providing direct assistance such as rides to the clinic, overnight housing, child care, translation, etc. In other words, they help people physically make it to their appointments.

Our Practical Support Network also includes the Bay Area Doula Project-trained abortion doulas who specialize in physical and emotional support during medication and surgical abortions.
 
Practical Support volunteers are based out of different areas of California and provide services within their own areas. The position is on-call based on volunteer availability; Practical Support Volunteers are asked to describe their availability during the week and what type(s) of support they can provide. We will contact them (typically via call or email) when their support is needed based on their availability. 

Resources (how ACCESS can help)
ACCESS Healthline – what we do and love

Our callers are the heart of our work on the ACCESS Healthline, and the Healthline program is a crucial link to resources for people in need of reproductive healthcare. We provide free and confidential information, referrals, advocacy, and peer counseling on the full range of reproductive and sexual health issues, with special expertise in pregnancy options and abortion services and care. 
We can connect people within California, traveling to California, or traveling out of California with programs and resources to help them access their healthcare. We also refer to other organizations that can support other issue areas, such as intimate partner violence, sexual assault, substance use, homelessness, and childcare. We offer a dedicated full-time Spanish line and can work with clinics and social services agencies to provide assistance in other languages. 
We can also support with transportation, lodging, or procedure funding. Our services are open to all people living in, traveling to, or traveling out of California, regardless of age, income, insurance, immigration status, gender identity, and more. If you need support, you are welcome to reach out to us!
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History

ACCESS received our first Healthline call in September 1993. With a few phones, a handful of volunteers, and binders of referrals, we began challenging the barriers to reproductive health care, whether that meant providing a woman with basic information about her menstrual cycle or offering rides so women could get to their abortion appointments. Since then, ACCESS has grown into a state-wide organization that is multicultural, multigenerational, and bilingual and serves as a leader in state advocacy efforts.

Reflecting

The years just prior to starting ACCESS were highly charged, politically, and socially. President Reagan had appointed three Supreme Court justices; the Court’s decision in the Webster case signaled the end of absolute constitutional protection for abortion; and in 1988, Operation Rescue made its way to California, galvanizing many to protect access to abortion by defending women and clinics from violent anti-choice protestors.
As clinic escorts, we learned about the many barriers women were facing. There were women who had traveled hours through California just to get to the nearest abortion provider and others who were turned away from the clinic because they didn’t have the right Medi-Cal paperwork or had a health condition that required a hospital’s help. After witnessing the barriers women faced, clinic defense began to feel too reactive-we needed to be combating the whole range of barriers to access, and not just the ones created by Operation Rescue.
We launched ACCESS after the 1992 court decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which kept alive the illusion of Roe v. Wade while allowing states to make it very difficult for women—especially young or poor women—to actually obtain an abortion. Our vision for ACCESS was not only to provide information and practical support on all aspects of reproductive health but to build a community actively working to meet the real needs of women.
  • 1993
    The Beginning
    A new project was invited to join the Coalition for the Medical Rights of Women. This project was ACCESS, which continued for over a decade as the only active project of the Coalition. Through a toll-free hotline, volunteer network, and abortion fund, ACCESS works to ensure access to the full range of reproductive health services, including abortion, for every Californian.
  • March
    1993-1994
    Dr. Gunn
    In March, Dr. David Gunn becomes the first known doctor killed because he performs abortions. By the end of 1994, four more people have been murdered and at least ten seriously injured in violent attacks against abortion clinics and providers. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act is signed into law in May, making it a federal crime to intimidate, injure or interfere with someone trying to provide or obtain reproductive health services.
  • October
    1995
    Abortion Access Action Month
    The month of October is declared Abortion Access Action Month in memory of Rosie Jimenez, the first known woman to die from an illegal abortion after the Hyde Amendment cut off public funding for abortions.
  • August
    1987
    The California Supreme Court
    The California Supreme Court rules that a 1987 law requiring women under 18 to obtain parental consent or judicial bypass for an abortion violates the California Constitution’s right to privacy.
  • 1997
    The Hotline
    Call volume on the hotline doubles after ACCESS receives foundation funding and is able to hire part-time hotline staff.
  • 1998
    AB 160 Vetoed
    California Governor Pete Wilson vetoes AB 160, which would have required contraceptive coverage in insurance plans.
  • 1999
    Michelle Lee
    Michelle Lee receives national attention after obtaining an abortion with help from ACCESS and other organizations. Even though she needed a heart transplant, the hospital had refused to perform an abortion, stating that her chance of dying from the pregnancy was ‘not greater than 50%.’
  • 1999
    The Lack of Abortion Access in California Hospitals
    An initiative to amend the state constitution to require parental consent for abortion fails to gather enough signatures to get on the ballot. ACCESS and the CARAL Pro-Choice Education Fund released a joint study entitled Holes in the Safety Net; The Lack of Abortion Access in California Hospitals.
  • 2000
    California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom
    ACCESS joins the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom and takes a lead role in organizing the Bay Area work of the Campaign for Access and Reproductive Equity, a national effort to unite reproductive rights and social justice groups.
  • 2000
    Emergency Medi-Cal
    Medi-Cal begins to cover medical abortion and allow women to apply for Emergency Medi-Cal without proof of pregnancy.
  • 2001
    Medi-Cal pulls support
    Several abortion providers stop accepting Medi-Cal for second-trimester abortions, citing low reimbursement rates and billing difficulties.
  • 2002
    Latina Outreach Program
    Our Latina Outreach Program launches, including a dedicated Spanish hotline number and a series of bilingual/bicultural community workshops.
  • 2003
    10 years of ACCESS
    ACCESS celebrates its 10th anniversary!
  • November
    2008
    Proposition 4
    ACCESS plays a leading role in defeating Proposition 4, the third parental notification ballot initiative in four years. Together with reproductive justice allies, we called on Californians to Protect the Health and Safety of our Daughters and Sisters through voter education, get out the vote activities and media outreach.
  • 2009
    Barriers to Entry:
    ACCESS releases Barriers to Entry: Ensuring Equitable and Timely Access to Medi-Cal for Pregnant Women and Reproductive Justice Advocacy from the Ground Up, outlining policy recommendations and priorities for the next three years
  • 2010
    Strategic Clarity
    ACCESS undergoes a Strategic Clarity process, and changes our name to ACCESS Women's Health Justice
  • 2013
    20 years of ACCESS!
    ACCESS celebrates 20 years! ACCESS plays a key role as a bill cosponsor in getting AB 154 The Early Access to Abortion Bill signed into law, enabling advance practice clinicians to provide abortion care
  • 2013
    California Legislative Record on Reproductive Justice
    In collaboration with Black Women for Wellness and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, ACCESS publishes the first-ever California Legislative Record on Reproductive Justice for 2013 & 2014.
  • 2015
    Reproductive Justice in Action: More than Just Talk
    ACCESS publishes "Reproductive Justice in Action: More than Just Talk" with stories of the barriers ACCESS callers face in getting the care they need. The Volunteer Network for housing and transportation assistance grows to over 200 people around the state.
  • 2016
    ACCESS co-sponsors of SB 23
    ACCESS serves the 24,000th caller! As a co-sponsor of SB 23, ACCESS and allied organizations repeal California's Welfare Family Cap through the budget bill to improve support for people choosing to continue their pregnancies. ACCESS helps launch a sister organization, Access Reproductive Care Southeast to serve callers in the Southeastern United States.
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