S.A.F.E. launched February 2023 to ensure abortion access to the people across Europe who have been abandoned by governments and healthcare systems. S.A.F.E. provides knowledge, funding, infrastructure and any other tools and information required to support and sustain the grassroots activists who are helping people access abortions.
S.A.F.E. is registered in The Netherlands, the country with the easiest and least expensive access to abortions in the second trimester. We work with pro-abortion activists, networks and providers across Europe to support access to anyone who wants or needs an abortion.
We are Supporting Abortions for Everyone. We are S.A.F.E.
Why we need S.A.F.E.
Abortion rights in Europe are under siege. While most countries have legal abortion, there is a vast difference between what is legal and what is accessible. Most countries impose strict time limits, arbitrary rules, and uneven access based on location, income or identity. Wins for abortion rights are rare and often negated by harmful roll backs or limited provision. The result? Families face the devastating reality of forced births. S.A.F.E. is here to change that. We’re fighting to ensure abortion is not just a legal right but a possible reality for anyone in Europe.
S.A.F.E. is transforming abortion access across Europe, resourcing the activists who are stepping in where governments and healthcare systems fail.
What SAFE does
S.A.F.E. helps abortion activists and networks across Europe who are ensuring everyone can access abortions. S.A.F.E. provides the resources identified by these activists as critically important to their survival: knowledge, funding, training, infrastructure and more. S.A.F.E. does not replicate the work of existing groups – we amplify it, empowering this growing movement with the tools to scale and sustain their impact.
Funding
Knowledge sharing
Pathways
Advocacy
1. Knowledge sharing
Knowledge is power. S.A.F.E. collects, curates and shares all the information activists need to set up abortion funds and help people get abortions. This is shared on our secure, multilingual online platform, Abortopedia.
2. Funding
S.A.F.E raises money in order to fund organizations, networks and activists helping people failed by governments and healthcare systems to get abortions. We help new and existing abortion support organizations with operational costs and can act as a fiscal sponsor.
3. Pathways
S.A.F.E. works with abortion providers to ensure secure and reliable pathways to safe abortion access. This includes finding clinics and hospitals that will provide abortions for non-residents and sharing the best strategies for helping people self manage their abortions in ways that are safe for both activists and abortion seekers.
4. Advocacy
S.A.F.E. educates people about abortion access in Europe, offers resources on how to talk about abortion factually and without stigma, and raises awareness of the barriers faced by people seeking abortions
Values
How we work is as important as the work itself. S.A.F.E. is inclusive and intersectional, upholding the following values in our work:
S.A.F.E. is openly, loudly and proudly pro-abortion
S.A.F.E. helps people access abortions at home with pills,
or at a clinic or hospital
S.A.F.E. does not ask anyone to justify why they want an abortion
S.A.F.E. trusts and respects women and pregnant people to determine what is best for their own lives
S.A.F.E. is a safe, non-judgmental and supportive environment
S.A.F.E. respects and celebrates differences and diversity
S.A.F.E. works collaboratively and respectfully with our partners
S.A.F.E. equally values the work done by all, whether paid or voluntary
S.A.F.E. is made of people with previous and existing experience as frontline abortion activism. Our work is to ensure that anyone in Europe who needs or wants an abortion can have one, no matter who they are or where they live. S.A.F.E. supports people of all identities and circumstances with unwavering respect and trust.
Our People
S.A.F.E. was founded by two long term abortion activists who drew on years of experience and activist collaboration to build a future-ready organization, Mara Clarke and Kasia Roszak ten-Hove. Together, they have more than 25 years of experience helping people cross borders or circumvent bad laws to have abortions. Whether navigating Covid, the war in Ukraine, Poland’s regressive laws or the rise of anti-gender and anti-woman movements across Europe, S.A.F.E. is ready to meet the next challenge – and the one after that.
SAFE’s co-founders
About Kasia Roszak ten-Hove. I was born and raised in Poland, a country with one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the world. I now live in the Netherlands and in 2017 helped co-create Abortion Network Amsterdam, which has helped thousands of people have abortions. With Mara, I am one of the co-founders of Abortion Without Borders , an initiative of activists from around Europe who have helped more than 200,000 people in Poland have safe abortions
About Mara Clarke. I became an abortion activist in 2002 when I learned that restrictions to abortion access most negatively impact the most marginalized or oppressed. In 2009, I founded the first abortion fund in Europe, using models shared by our sibling activists at the National Network of Abortion Funds. With Kasia, I spent years talking to European abortion activists to learn what is needed to ensure the existence and sustainability of the abortion funds movement in Europe.
SAFE’s Board of Trustees
Erlynn Pasanea
I have been involved with Abortion Network Amsterdam from the start and have years of experience with autonomous organizing in different fields of activism. I wish to help SAFE in becoming an integral part of the pro-abortion movement, connecting with all those who are fighting for uncompromised, unbiased and radical access to abortion health care, especially those at the grassroots.
Monika Bar
I love supporting abortions without stigma or judgement for everyone who needs or wants one. I spent two years volunteering on the Abortion Support Network helpline. My primary areas of expertise are in education, law and human rights and I am excited to help S.A.F.E. build and maintain Abortopedia. I also hope to develop and deepen my connections within the community of people who do this work.
Dominique Ogreanu
I am a reproductive and social rights activist from Romania with many years’ experience of community building. I have been an advocate since I was 17 when I organized an international webinar on abortion activist with Girl Up Romania. I have since been involved with numerous feminist collectives who are reshaping reproductive freedom in Eastern Europe, planning conferences, immersive experiences and political campaigns as well as mentoring young people in the arts of advocacy and activism. I bring these skills to S.A.F.E. as we create a care-based support structure for abortion activists across Europe.
Jema Davis
I’ve been working in international sexual and reproductive rights for more than a decade with a focus on access to safe abortions. My current work is with FIGO (the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics), supporting ObGyns and healthcare providers become stronger advocates for safe abortion in Francophone West Africa. I have previously worked at MSI Reproductive Choices and served as a Trustee of Abortion Support Network, including a term as co-chair. I am excited to bringing my skills in strategic thinking and project oversight to S.A.F.E.
Our partners
Abortion Network Amsterdam is a network of support for women and pregnant people who don’t have access to safe abortion.
https://abortionnetwork.amsterdam
Interested in becoming a partner? See Abortopedia.