Like many other nonprofits, foundations, and companies, the economic downturn is having an impact on Pro-Choice Resources (PCR) and NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Foundation (NARAL). In response to the current budget constraints facing both organizations, NARAL and PCR made the very difficult decision to discontinue our joint program - the Abortion Provider Expansion Project (APEP). APEP was established in collaboration with NARAL and PCR in 2002 in response to a combination of two key factors: extraordinarily high rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States and a growing shortage of medical professionals trained to provide contraceptive counseling and abortion care. APEP addressed this deficit by working at the root of the problem: the medical and nursing educational systems.

The program sought to increase the number of medical and surgical abortion providers by supporting pro-choice activists, nursing students, medical residents and physicians in their efforts to gain experience and training, and providing services and resources to directly combat the multitude of barriers that keep many individual medical professionals from providing comprehensive reproductive healthcare to all of their patients.

The effectiveness and impact of the APEP program has been remarkable. Over the past 7 years, APEP was able to meet all of our long-term programmatic goals; filling a critical gap in the continuum of quality reproductive healthcare in our community. We value the foundation, community, strategic partnerships, individual and staff support that has allowed us to be successful.

Although we are ending this program, we believe that many nurses, medical students, residents and doctors will continue to benefit from the infrastructure that we have been able to create and support over the term of this program. Please feel free to contact Karen Law, Executive Director of PCR (Karen@birdsandbees.org or 612-825-2000), or Linnea House, Executive Director of NARAL (linnea@prochoiceminnesota.org or 651-602-7655), with your comments or concerns.