[1] FAN was formed in 2006 to promote information-sharing, cross-organizational strategizing and improve the overall efficacy and reach of the member clinics.
[2] All of the clinics opened after the decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which ruled that women had the constitutional right to access abortion.
Some of the clinics were even borne out of groups of women practicing self-help health care, using mirrors and speculums to examine their own cervixes.
[6][7][8] In addition to security concerns, many independent clinics face financial struggles because they provide abortion services to all women who seek them.
[11] The FAN member clinics remain committed to staying open, despite the challenges, because they believe that they offer an important alternative to "standard" healthcare.
I think there is a critical role to be played by the diverse and distinct types of providers we still have in our 'health care ecosystem' and that we should consider what might be the consequences of their disappearance and absorption into the corporate conglomerate.
[16] In an interview with reproductive health news source RH Reality Check, two women from FAN member clinics (Kudra MacCaillech of the Concord Feminist Health Center and Joan Schrammeck of Cedar River Clinics) discussed the formation of the consortium.
[9] Before forming FAN, the women conducted a survey to find out how many feminist abortion care providers still existed – and were alarmed by the number that had closed.