For “abortion doulas,” the news of the Supreme Court’s vote to strike down Roe v. Wade threatens the safety that their jobs provide. Here, we revisit our 2018 article on how the selfless volunteers are integral in the fight for reproductive justice.
Were Katie to guess how many women she’s helped through ending a pregnancy since getting her abortion doula certification two years ago, she’d put the number around “a couple hundred.” The 22-year-old is a member of the , where she acts as a patient advocate and assists with a range of tasks around the procedure, from escorting patients into clinics to offering encouraging words and literal hand-holding.
Katie stresses that doulas do not offer medical advice or perform medical procedures. “Sometimes someone wants a hug, sometimes someone wants you to talk to them to distract them, and sometimes they just kind of want you to be there and just hold space for them in that moment.” She notes that most of the people who finish abortion doula training and really thrive in the work are those who understand the limitations of their role. “You're not there to save anybody,” she says.
The ability to even make those decisions is at stake in our country. In some pockets, like the Southeast, access has already be rolled way, way back. Tennessee, where Katie works, is one of the worst offenders. But it hasn't always been that way: The state used to be a kind of safe haven for those seeking abortion. Until 2014 the state's constitution spelled out a fundamental right to privacy, extending to a person’s option to terminate a pregnancy.
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