Largest association of abortion providers in the U.S.
Established in 1977 by pro-choice activist Frances Kissling, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) is a professional membership organization for abortion service providers. The only accredited organization that offers continuing education in abortion procedures, NAF ranks among the largest associations of abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada, with over 400 facilities in 47 states and 8 Canadian provinces. Representing nearly half of American abortion providers, NAF opposes any restrictions on abortion at either the state or federal levels, and champions the introduction of unrestricted abortion into developing regions of the world.
NAF is a member of the "Fight the Right" campaign of the National Organization for Women and the National Council of Women's Organizations. This campaign actively supports not only unrestricted access to taxpayer-funded abortion, but also race and gender preferences in business and education (which it terms "civil rights"), and increased spending on social welfare programs for women and children (which it terms "economic justice").
NAF disseminates its views regarding abortion (and other issues) in textbooks, fact sheets, and email newsletters. It also has a national, toll-free, bilingual "hotline." NAF opposes parental consent and notification laws in abortion cases; opposes any restrictions on partial-birth abortion; and opposes the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (a 2004 law that recognizes unborn children killed during the commission of a crime as victims).
In January 2001, NAF actively opposed John Ashcroft's confirmation as Attorney General, launching a series of pointed attacks branding him as an "extremist." In a January 2001 press release, NAF President and CEO Vicki Saporta warned that Ashcroft's confirmation would pave the way toward "an increase in the levels of violence directed against the dedicated health care professionals who provide safe, legal abortion services."
In 1993 NAF spun off the group Medical Students for Choice (MSFC). A network of some 7,000 activists, MSFC amplifies NAF's claim that there is shortage of abortion providers in the United States, and it works "to persuade medical schools to include abortion as a part of the reproductive health services curriculum." In 1997 NAF inaugurated three additional groups—Midwives for Choice, Nurse Practitioners for Choice, and Physician Assistants for Choice—to promote its demands for increased access to abortion. All four of the spinoff groups are allied under the umbrella organization Clinicians for Choice.
Working in partnership with George Soros's Open Society Institute and Ipas (an organization that promotes access to abortion in developing countries), NAF has campaigned for the introduction of first-trimester abortion (performed via a method called Manual Vacuum Aspiration) in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as the republics of the former Soviet Union.
