Maryland is the first state to tap into an old fund connected to the Affordable Care Act to help solve a new problem: helping pay the expenses of patients who travel to Maryland for an abortion.

With abortion now restricted or illegal in 22 states, jurisdictions like Maryland have become a destination for patients from as close as neighboring West Virginia to as far as Texas.

With a staff of six, the Baltimore Abortion Fund helps patients who need to travel pay for bus or plane tickets, lodging in Maryland, and sometimes meals. The fund spends about a million dollars a year on that support. Calls to its confidential helpline have increased by 50%-60% every year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, said Lynn McCann-Yeh, the fund’s co-director.

The fund disburses aid as people call in. Often

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