NAF is the professional association of abortion providers in North America. They are unique among pro-choice organizations because they represent the providers who make reproductive choice a reality. Their members include private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women’s health centers, physicians’ offices, and hospitals who together care for more than half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Our members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia.The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers.

Their members include individuals, private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women’s health centers, physicians’ offices, and hospitals who together care for approximately half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Their members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia.

History
 
One of the greatest public health achievements of modern medicine was the legalization of abortion, which resulted in at least a 90% reduction in abortion-related deaths. Today women can be assured that abortion is one of the safest and most commonly provided medical procedures in the United States.

But the medical community did not step forward to accept abortion practice when it was legalized by the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Instead, the National Abortion Federation has filled this gap by providing standards of care, protocols, and clinical education to health care professionals.

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. Their groundbreaking founders included providers from across the country, faculty from medical schools, and abortion advocates.