Abortion Clinics Change Their Names to Become Gender Inclusive

Even before abortion became illegal in 14 states, some reproductive health care clinics were rebranding to better reflect the broad spectrum of gender-inclusive care they provide.

Not long after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Hanz Dismer, who identifies as nonbinary, discovered they were pregnant. Dismer, who currently works as director of psychosocial services at , an independent abortion clinic in southern Illinois, knows the ins and outs of reproductive health. Yet they still felt unprepared.

Within a month, Dismer鈥檚 body began changing in painful and traumatic ways. Their chest grew larger, triggering gender dysphoria, and their preexisting health conditions quickly threatened both their health and the health of the pregnancy. 鈥淚t was miserable,鈥� they told , an abortion storytelling organization. 鈥淎fter a month of contemplation, I knew I needed an abortion.鈥�

It isn鈥檛 uncommon for nonbinary people to seek abortion care: A 2023 analysis by the Guttmacher Institute found that as many as do not identify as heterosexual women. But too often, the language used by abortion clinics, abortion funds, and abortion advocacy organizations don鈥檛 reflect that reality.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been the sole statewide abortion fund for 32 years, and we鈥檝e prided ourselves on supporting folks from all backgrounds,鈥� Sam Woodring, communications manager for the , said in an email. The fund, which used to be known as Women Have Options, intentionally in 2022 to be more inclusive of abortion seekers who don鈥檛 identify as cisgender women.

鈥淲hen we use gendered language, the implicit message is that folks not included are unworthy of that care [and] support,鈥� Woodring says. 鈥淭o need support getting an abortion, and the only option available to you is also deeply gender-exclusive can be yet another barrier to accessing the care they [trans and nonbinary folks] want, need, and deserve.鈥�

Moving Beyond the Battle of the Sexes

When freestanding and emerged in the 1970s, many deliberately branded as being women鈥檚-health focused. This was the age of second wave feminism, when activists tried to assert and at every level of government. In 1970, provided federal grants for contraception; Roe v. Wade established the constitutional right to an abortion in 1973. At the time, these were considered to be 鈥渨omen鈥檚 health鈥� services.

But 50 years later, our understanding of gender has moved beyond the binary of 鈥渕an鈥� and 鈥渨oman鈥濃€攁nd it鈥檚 well past time for abortion care organizations and clinics to reflect that.

The Abortion Fund of Ohio is one of many organizations and funds that have rebranded in an effort to become more gender inclusive. Previously known as the Gateway Women鈥檚 Access Fund, the Missouri Abortion Fund , well before Roe was overturned with the Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization. The Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania from the Women鈥檚 Medical Fund in 2021. , the independent abortion clinic where Dismer works, was known as Hope Clinic for Women until early 2023.

Unfortunately, this tidal wave of change has been criticized for 鈥�.鈥� Apparently, changing our language about abortion to be more inclusive and ensure access for everyone who wants, needs, and has an abortion is unfair and discriminatory to those who have fought 鈥�.鈥�

Rebranding an organization to be gender inclusive and using language like 鈥減regnant people鈥� does not mean that someone who identifies as a woman can no longer call themself a woman. Woodring of the Abortion Fund of Ohio sums it up well: 鈥淢aking the switch to gender-inclusive language hurts no one, because, as we like to remind folks, women are people too.鈥�

Rebranding to Reality

Trans and nonbinary people have always existed, and while the women鈥檚 liberation movement of the 1970s may not have had the language or understanding to contextualize abortion rights within a gender-inclusive framework, we do now. Refusing to do so, continuing to say 鈥渨omen鈥檚 reproductive rights,鈥� and specifically spelling out in the name of a clinic or fund that it serves 鈥渨omen鈥� are all ways that deny the very existence of trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people.

And, since research now shows that one in six people who have an abortion don鈥檛 identify as a heterosexual woman, it鈥檚 harmful to continue to insist that abortion or reproductive health care is a 鈥渨omen鈥檚 issue.鈥�

Some clinics, like Boulder Valley Health Center (BVHC), have been providing gender-affirming care and other health care services to people of all genders for years. BVHC, previously known as Boulder Valley Women鈥檚 Health, in 2023, the 50th anniversary of the Colorado-based clinic. The clinic鈥檚 choice reflected the expansive care it had long been providing.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always actually served anyone,鈥� director of development Jennifer Johnson told the . 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what people鈥檚 gender identity is; we鈥檙e here to serve the whole community … we really wanted to make sure that everyone in the community knows they鈥檙e welcome here for their health care, however they identify.鈥�

For other clinics, pivoting to gender-inclusive language reflects the stark reality that it鈥檚 illegal for some of them to provide abortion care at all.

Once Roe was overturned, abortion became illegal in the state of Alabama. Robin Marty, executive director of WAWC Healthcare (formerly West Alabama Women鈥檚 Center) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, knew she needed to keep the clinic open to provide other types of reproductive and sexual health care.聽

WAWC shut down for more than a week in the wake of the Dobbs decision. When it reopened on July 7, 2022, the clinic had revised its entire model. 鈥淲e were then officially a nonprofit, sliding-scale health care center,鈥� Marty says. 鈥淲e built our new services around all of that, and that included HIV testing and treatment and prevention, as well as doing gender-affirming health care.鈥�

In 2024, West Alabama Women鈥檚 Center became WAWC. The clinic waited to change its name because it was uncertain if it would be able to remain open at all. It took nearly two years for 鈥渦s to feel that we were actually going to be able to stay open permanently,鈥� Marty explained. 鈥淏efore that, it didn鈥檛 make any sense to try to put into place an entire branding change if we thought we were only going to be operating for another month or two.鈥�

Now, more than two years after Dobbs eradicated the constitutional right to an abortion, WAWC is still open and serving patients. WAWC doesn鈥檛 provide abortion care, but, true to its new gender-inclusive name, it does perform a wide range of reproductive and sexual health care options.

鈥淲e provide gender-affirming care across the state,鈥� Marty said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just those [in Tuscaloosa] who are coming to the clinic. We鈥檝e been able to do a telemed program … We鈥檙e actually able to provide medication to people regardless of where they are in the state.鈥�

It鈥檚 unclear whether WAWC will ever be able to provide abortion care again, but if it does, its gender-inclusive name will signal its willingness to accept abortion patients of all genders. Even if abortion remains illegal in Alabama, WAWC鈥檚 rebrand, as other clinic and fund rebrands, hold an important lesson for clinics and funds nationwide: Changing a name to be gender-inclusive isn鈥檛 a rhetorical exercise.

Being gender-inclusive is about reflecting the many genders a clinic already serves. It鈥檚 about welcoming patients of all genders, no matter how they identify. It鈥檚 about signaling to the broader culture, to the entire country, that access to safe abortion care is for everyone.

Lauren Rankin is a writer, speaker, and communications consultant with more than a decade of experience working in reproductive rights and health. She is the author of Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America (Penguin Random House, 2023), and her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, The Cut, Fast Company, Mother Jones, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, NBC News, and many other outlets. She consults as a communications strategist with Apiary for Practical Support, A is For, and Affirmative Care Solutions. She spent six years as an abortion clinic escort in northern New Jersey and previously served on the board of the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund. She received a Master of Arts in women鈥檚 and gender studies from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and communications from Northwestern University. She lives in Longmont, Colorado, with her husband and dog, Winnie.

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