The mission of the National Abortion Federation is to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health and justice for women. Our work supports these three fundamental aspects of our mission:

Safe - NAF provides our members with the education and professional support they need to provide the highest quality abortion care.

Legal - NAF provides the medical, provider, and patient perspectives in debates about abortion policies.

Accessible - NAF provides women with the resources they need to make informed decisions about their pregnancies.

NAF works to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health and justice for women. We provide education, services and support to abortion providers to ensure that they are able to offer the highest quality care and meet the unique challenges required by their field of medicine. We provide women with unbiased, accurate information about their options and access to quality medical care if they choose abortion.

Training and Education NAF provides the only ongoing accredited continuing medical education exclusively in abortion care to advance the clinical skills and update the medical techniques of abortion providers.

Quality Assurance and Improvement NAF's quality program sets the standard for quality abortion care in North America and ensures that women receive safe, high quality abortion services.

Medical Abortion Initiative NAF is the leading source for information and professional education about medical abortion. We work to create an environment that encourages health care providers to offer medical abortion services, information, or referrals to their patients.

International Programs NAF works to improve the quality of care women receive in developing countries through international medical education and training programs.

Outreach NAF works to extend our support to women of color, immigrant women, and low-income women, who often face unique cultural, language, and information barriers to obtaining information about pregnancy options and safe abortion care.

Residency Training NAF works to reverse the shortage of committed abortion providers by facilitating training partnerships between NAF member clinics and ob-gyn and family practice residency programs.

Clinicians for Choice NAF works to increase abortion access by training and integrating advanced practice clinicians into abortion services and by supporting their pro-choice advocacy efforts nationwide.

NAF Hotline NAF operates the only national toll-free abortion hotline (1-800-772-9100), which provides personalized support to women seeking accurate information about pregnancy options, abortion procedures, and how to locate safe, high-quality abortion providers.

Public Policy NAF provides the accurate medical and scientific information necessary to the public debate about abortion policy. NAF also ensures that the voices of abortion providers and patients are included in policy debates when important decisions are being made concerning our choices.

Clinic Security and Support NAF works to prevent violence against abortion providers by providing them with direct, on-site security training and assistance. NAF also works closely with law enforcement officials to provide intelligence and to help improve law enforcement's response to incidents of violence and disruption at clinics.

For more information, see: http://www.prochoice.org/about_naf/program_areas.html

NAF was established when an abortion provider service organization, the National Association of Abortion Facilities (NAAF), and a professional association dedicated to standards of care and access for women, the National Abortion Council (NAC), merged in 1977. The two independent groups were formed to serve the needs of abortion providers and women seeking abortion care following the first national symposium on abortion after Roe v. Wade, held in March 1975 in Knoxville, TN.

It was around the time of NAF's founding that the rise of active opposition to legal abortion became evident. Abortion providers recognized the need for a national professional organization to set standards, increase access, and give support to the pioneers of this new branch of medicine. Our groundbreaking founders included providers from across the country, faculty from medical schools, and abortion advocates.

For more information, see: http://www.prochoice.org/about_naf/history.html

NAF serves physicians, advanced practice clinicians, nurses, counselors, administrators, and other medical professionals at more than 400 facilities in 47 states and 8 Canadian provinces. We also have international members in Europe, South America, and Australia. Our members are recognized experts in abortion care and include nonprofit and private clinics, women's health centers, Planned Parenthood facilities, hospitals, and private physicians, as well as nationally and internationally recognized researchers, clinicians, and educators at major universities and teaching hospitals. Together, they care for more than half the women who choose abortion each year in the United States.