The City of Bloomington announced Thursday it will release $200,000 in emergency reproductive health care grants: $100,000 for the current fiscal year and $100,000 for the next.
Non-profit organizations that assist Bloomingtonians seeking reproductive healthcare are eligible to apply, provided they don’t violate state or federal law.
The grants are a response to Indiana’s abortion ban, which is currently on hold as a court mulls its fate.
Read more: All-Options expands abortion fund recipients tenfold
“On behalf of the City of Bloomington, I am unable to sit by and watch local Hoosiers capable of becoming pregnant stripped of their rights and autonomy as residents of our community,” Mayor John Hamilton said in a press release. “These grants are one way that we together can fight for and support rights and equality for all Hoosiers.”
Beverly Calender-Anderson, the director of Community & Family Resources for the city, said “emergency reproductive health care” covers a wide variety of resources.
“The grant itself is not to pay for abortions,” Calender-Anderson said. “However, it could help cover things like educational literature, transportation, post-op exams, things like that.”
The grants were financed by the City Council through a special appropriation in 2022 and a budget approval for 2023.
Read more: Even though abortions are legal again, patients are seeking fewer resources
Calender-Anderson said that Indiana’s abortion law would harm poor people the most. She hopes grant money can be made to work for people who face barriers in the health care system.
“We're trying to make it as easy as we can for people to access but also remembering that the funding cannot be used contrary to any state law,” Calender-Anderson said. “Hopefully we will be able to help as many people as we can.”
The city will accept applications through November 11 at 5 p.m. and anticipates announcing awards by November 22. Applications are available through this link.
