Provide provides free professional training and technical assistance to reduce barriers to abortion at the intersection of pregnancy and stigmatized systems of care. We envision an equitable sexual and reproductive health system that cares for the whole person with dignity and respect, centering marginalized communities where access to abortion care is restricted.
Advancing abortion access across care systems.
What We Do
Provide offers free professional development for healthcare and social service providers to give accurate, informed, and non-judgmental referrals for abortion care. Through training and customized technical assistance, we partner with organizations to integrate abortion referral practices into their standards of care.
We see potential for every person to play a role in ensuring accessible abortion care. We focus on five of the most critical systems of care for people of reproductive age: substance use, domestic and sexual violence, HIV, primary care, and family planning. By centering client autonomy and addressing pregnancy within the context of whole-person care, we help providers proactively and compassionately respond to their community’s needs around abortion.
46%
Nearly half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended.
Nearly
1,000,000
people in the US have abortions every year.
Abortion is safe and common, but legal access alone is not enough. We won’t stop until abortion is affordable, widely available, and accessible to anyone who needs it.
Why We’re Needed
Health and social service professionals are key connectors for people experiencing unintended pregnancy and/or seeking abortion care. Unfortunately, information about abortion is too often left out of providers’ education and training, in part due to abortion stigma. When trusted providers lack the knowledge and skills to help a patient access abortion, it creates an unnecessary rupture in that person’s care and may lead to additional hardship, especially for those already navigating barriers to care.
Provide steps in to fill these gaps by offering free CEU-eligible trainings and technical assistance around pregnancy options counseling and abortion referrals. With more than 30 years of experience, we help equip and empower direct care professionals to eliminate bias and center client autonomy in making pregnancy referrals.
Our Results
Our robust evaluation program ensures that providers leave our trainings with measurable increases in skills and confidence around discussing abortion, which we know contributes to increased patient satisfaction.
0
65
of participants who said they were unlikely to refer for abortion care prior to training changed their minds.
0
97
of participants agree they have the skills and information to effectively counsel a client on all pregnant options and to refer a client for abortion care if they request it.
Overall, providers are 2-3x more likely to discuss abortion
+
twice as likely to refer for abortion following our abortion referrals training.
Provide’s History
Founded in 1992 as the Abortion Access Project, Provide is a national nonprofit organization with a rich legacy of training and advocacy. While we have pivoted our strategies over time, we remain committed to the mission of our founders: to increase abortion access for all pregnant people.
In 2013, we launched our Referrals Initiative, which developed into our flagship training program, delivered in-person to thousands of front-line providers across the U.S. Southeast. In 2016, we began offering customized technical assistance to help organizations institutionalize quality pregnancy counseling and abortion referrals.
In 2020, we began offering Referrals for Unintended Pregnancy as an online training eligible for CEUs for nurses, social workers, and addiction professionals. We have since expanded our virtual programming to include webinars and asynchronous learning that incorporate stigma, self-managed abortion, and criminalization.
“I feel more comfortable going to a room, If a patient says what are my options, I know what I can offer them or where I can send them.”
- Roane County Health Department Worker in Tennessee.
“Abortion is part of reproductive health services, filling in when other contraceptive measures fail or are not used appropriately, and it is especially essential to have a full understanding of abortion and other options when working with underserved women. who may not have a complete understanding of their options and may need extra assistance navigating the system.”
– Provide training participant and survey respondent
“The training helped me understand that I needed to slow down, listen, and be more empathetic and understanding. We have about 15 minutes with each client; we are rushed. I think more than anything else, the training helped me understand how important it is to give her time to let her process as much as she can within the limited time we have in clinic, and to give her all the options she has in an unbiased manner.”
- Public health nurse, South Carolina