CARE Abortion Patient Support Program

by Myra Jacobs and Stevie Shuchart

CARE Abortion Patient Support Program launched December 2025

It’s difficult to recall now, but our past winter was a brutal one. It was thus gratifying that the Davis Center Reproductive Health & Rights Group’s (RHRG) just-launched CARE Abortion Patient Support Program was able to literally envelop some CARE Clinic patients in comforting warmth, by providing winter jackets for those who’d been forced to travel from distant Southern states to access the abortion treatment they need, arriving quite unprepared for the biting cold.

The RHRG’s CARE Abortion Patient Support Program came about from the desire for a group service project after the 2024 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v Wade. This decision ended the constitutional right to abortion that women in the US had benefited from for almost 50 years, and many states then activated draconian laws against abortion. As a result, many abortion seekers need to travel to a decreasing number of safe locations for service, including our area, the DMV. Stevie Shuchart and Myra Jacobs were tasked with identifying the nature and scope of such a project.

Comfort Kit Model

The model for the project was based on one that Adas Israel’s Reproductive Justice Group did with the Partners in Abortion Care clinic in College Park. Adas members raise funds for Abortion Comfort Kits (bags filled with items such as reusable water bottles, menstrual pads and snacks). Volunteers then pack and deliver hundreds of filled totes at a time to the clinic, several times a year. This initiative has considerable demands on storage space, and the time of many volunteers to assemble and transport the totes.

Our Abortion Clinic Partner

We were fortunate to find a responsive and appreciative local clinic to work with, CARE Reproductive Health, LLC in Chevy Chase.  Staff Clinic gave their input on what items they believed their patients would most appreciate, and would fill an unmet need.

In line with the Adas program, we aimed to provide items at a cost not exceeding $18 per patient, both for the symbolic significance of “18”/ CHAI, and because that is a sum that many are comfortable in donating.  

The Products our Program offers to Patients

Based on CARE staff input and estimates of patient numbers available in late 2025, we calculated an annual budget of around $9K would be needed to fully and continuously supply the patient cohort with products in 3 categories:

• items necessary for post-procedural care – disposable heat pads for pain, heavy menstrual pads, some creams/balms
• relatively healthy non-perishable snacks and light microwave meals and
• replacement sweatpants where needed because of bleed-through, as well as a limited number of cold-weather coats.

Upon leaving the clinic for their hotel recovery stay, patients are offered items they need from the above assortment. CARE Clinic has a storage cupboard where the Program items are housed, and plastic carry bags to accommodate the items the patient selects.

Importantly, all departing patients receive a card of support and encouragement hand-written by a Temple Sinai volunteer. The cards were designed by Temple member Ilana Gordon, with input from the clinic on suitable inclusive images.   

In addition to the above, our program has also provided 6 small electric heating pads for patients experiencing cramping to use on-site.

Funding of the CARE Abortion Patient Support Program  

Once we had our budget estimate, kickstart donations of $1500 each were kindly made by the Davis Center, and TSWRJ, which adopted the Program as a mitzvah project for the January 2026 TSWRJ Retreat.

In order to handle online donations earmarked for our program, the CARE Clinic created a site on the Zeffy platform through a dedicated link or QR code.

Through the great generosity of above Temple-associated entities as well as individuals, to date we have collected just over $5,000!

Lessons learned, and Feedback on the CARE Abortion Patient Support Program  

• The program is appreciated: Patients are greatly appreciative of the products they receive through the Program, and touched by the cards of support that members of our community have handwritten at community volunteer events.
• During the winter months, warm jackets were in demand by patients from Southern states, as were skin protection toiletries such as lip balm and hand cream. This past winter, Stevie and Myra donated 12 new winter jackets to the Program as we launched. These were supplemented by some more jackets bought with donated funds later in the still bitterly cold season. These are clearly the most expensive individual items to purchase, so for winter 2026-7, we intend to appeal for donations of gently used jackets.
• We initially offered a range of snacks for hotel recovery stays, but the patients have expressed a preference for microwave meals so they did not need to leave their hotel. Non-perishable microwavable meals are significantly more expensive than snacks.
• Patient numbers have risen significantly: When we first began discussions with CARE Clinic, they were treating around 80 patients each month, but in 2026 a typical month has seen around 100 abortion patients monthly. The numbers of medical and first trimester surgical abortions have risen. About 10% of abortions are for fetal anomalies, and these typically take place later.
• We have not yet been able to provide continuous coverage: We had intended a program that would provide the range of comfort items continuously to all patients, contingent on regular stock updates from the Clinic. However, for a variety of reasons, including staffing issues at the Clinic, we have not been able to do so. As a result, we have spent only around $2,500, in contrast to our estimate of about $4,500 for the period. Going forward, we hope that we can keep the program fully supplied.

How you can help!  

1. Make a donation using this link. If you can send a check made payable to “Abortion Access Fund”, with “Temple Sinai” noted in the memo line, and mail it to:  CARE Reproductive Health, LLC, 5454 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1300, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
2. Write messages of support and encouragement in provided greetings cards, at Temple events that include this as a mitzvah project
3. By setting aside gently used, cleaned winter jackets; we will send out an appeal for these in the winter!
4. Consider volunteering to drive and/or accommodate patients after they have undergone a late-term abortion, necessitating a delivery that might take longer than anticipated. To help patients of the CARE Clinic in this way, please sign up through the DMV Abortion Practical Support Network (DAPSN). They will provide training and scheduling. Several in our community have served as volunteers with DAPSN in the past and report that it was a very rewarding experience.

On behalf of the RHRG group, and hundreds of CARE Clinic patients, we wish to thank the Davis Center, TSWRJ, and all those individuals who have supported the CARE Abortion Patient Support Program for their generous contributions of funds, and energies in writing messages of support for abortion patients. These patients are finding it more and more difficult to reach the reproductive health care they need in our post-Roe environment, and we hope we can rely on your continuing commitment to helping them.

In the hope that the tide of repression of women’s rights will turn soon,

Myra and Stevie