Portland Fans Pledge to Donate a Dollar to Alabama Abortion Access Fund For Every Point the Blazers Score Tonight

"It has been a true delight to see the pledges come in. I love this city, I love this team, and I love the fans."

Portland Trail Blazers fans in the Moda Center on April 23, 2019. (Sam Gehrke)

Need another reason to root for the Blazers tonight? Here's one: Each point the team scores means a dollar donated by Blazers fans to abortion access for women in Alabama.

It's the Trail Blazers' second game against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals tonight. And as a show of support to people in Alabama imperiled by a newly signed abortion ban, Portland fans are pledging to donate a dollar for every point the team scores tonight to The Yellowhammer Fund, which provides abortion access assistance for Alabamans.

The fan campaign is a response to legislation signed Wednesday by Alabama governor Kay Ivey that makes performing abortions a felony with no exceptions, even in cases of rape and incest. The law, now the strictest ban in the nation, is slated to go into effect in six months. The ACLU has already announced plans to fight the Alabama law in court.

Blazers fan Hannah Carmody started the campaign on Twitter yesterday. "Please join me in dunking on these anti-choice villains and make your own pledge," she wrote.

Her campaign caught on quickly, with dozens of Portlanders promising to donate money to the fund each time the Blazers score—or "Zach Collins starts some shit," or "the Curry parents are shown on the telecast."

Carmody says that in the wake of the Alabama ban, she saw an opportunity to put Blazer fans' Twitter engagement to good use.

"One in four people with a uterus has an abortion. It should be safe, free, and without shame," Carmody says. "These people [at the Yellowhammer Fund] are putting their lives on the line to give all people with a uterus the right to bodily autonomy."

She adds, "It has been a true delight to see the pledges come in. I love this city, I love this team, and I love the fans."

Here's a sample of the support Carmody's pledge has garnered in the last 24 hours:

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