My Day With The Socialists, Part 1: The Abortion Doula
I went on a tour to learn how to self-manage my abortion hosted by far-left abortion activists. It was very educational.
On April 15, 2023, I spent the day at the Collective Power conference at Hampshire College in Western Massachusetts, with 200ish of my closest comrades. In this limited series, I will document the experience.
There’s a lot to talk about. If you appreciate my work, please consider funding it by subscribing for $5/month or $50/year.
I want to say something that might surprise you, and will almost certainly surprise the subjects of the series of articles that we’re about to embark upon:
The socialists I met on April 15, 2023 were perfectly lovely people.
They were nice, welcoming, optimistic, and sometimes even funny. They were very smart, and some of them were wonderful teachers.
Don’t get me wrong: They have crazy ideas. And we’re going to discuss those crazy ideas in this series.
But I think it’s important to acknowledge their humanity upfront, if for no other reason than they don’t see us as human. We should be better than that.
I truly believe that most of the (mostly) female audience I interacted with at the Collective Power Reproductive Justice conference are victims of the ideology they have been taught their entire lives. And that’s a sad thing.
I understand them because I was them.
I was a Democrat for 20 years, have always been pro-choice (and, yes, still am today), and there was a time in my life when I believed many of the same things they do. We even have things in common: I do not like conservative Christianity, I don’t care if people are trans (adults should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies), I refuse to hate people like Dylan Mulvaney, and I absolutely loathe Matt Walsh.
I don’t hate any of the people I met at the conference.
But I do hate their ideas, and I generally think they’re bad for humanity.
One of those ideas that I hate is The Abortion Doula.
What’s an abortion doula, you ask? We’ll get to that. But first, I must take you on a magical adventure into a land of far-left abortion activism.
Let’s Go On a Self-Managed Abortion Tour
The Self-Managed Abortion Tour was hosted by a group named Abortion On Our Terms, which took over the Faculty Lounge at Hampshire College to create an experiential art installation that invited “participants to co-vision a liberatory future for reclaiming self-managed abortion.”
They advertised their exhibit in the conference program:
It was a rather warm day at the event, and the organization was kind enough to provide these fans so we could keep cool. They were actually great fans, complete with pro-abortion chants in case we needed to stage a spontaneous demonstration:
We were welcomed into the exhibit to…
“Imagine a world where abortion is supported—those who need them are loved, those who provide them are celebrated, and we all have access to the information we need. We deserve to care for our bodies, families, and futures. This is that world…”
Of course, we also had to affirm the core tenants of the woke religion upon entry:
We were greeted by a woman (I’m assuming her gender but I’m pretty sure she said she/her pronouns) who offered to give us a tour. Her shirt said “Mife & Miso & Miso & Miso & Miso.
Mife stands for Mifepristone. Miso stands for Misoprostol. These are the pills you use when you want to self-manage your abortion.
She was very nice and assured me that I could take pictures of her and the event as long as I didn’t take pictures of anyone else there.
Last year, the organization hosting the exhibit celebrated the birthday of Mifepristone on their Instagram page:
There were three of us on the tour, and we had to all agree to some terms before the tour began. For instance, the tour guide explained that, because this was an abortion positive space, we were not allowed to question whether or not abortion is good.
She also said that wasn’t really a problem at this type of event, but she had to explain it anyway.
Being that I’m pro-choice, I thought ok. I’m comfortable with abortion being legal in the first three months of the pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother after that. I think that’s a fair and reasonable compromise. So, I didn’t have a strong need to debate the topic and was more interested in allowing the tour guide to speak her mind freely.
The tour guide also gave a disclaimer that noted that self-managed abortion was not legal everywhere, and they definitely weren’t giving medical advice or telling people how to self-manage an abortion…but if we WERE going to self-manage an abortion, they were going to give us lots of tips and advice on how to do that.
The eye rolls on the sign really sold that this was a serious disclaimer.
The first thing we encountered on the tour was toys for kids.
The tour guide asked us to consider why we might see things for kids in an exhibit about abortion. I offered that maybe the reason was that women who get abortions often do it because they don’t want more kids.
And I was right! The guide noted that most women who have abortions already have kids, regardless of the perception to the contrary.
We were invited by the tour guide to take a seat in the living room:
Here are some close-ups of the items on the table:
While we were seated on the couch, we were asked to brainstorm why women might want to self-manage their abortion.
I offered that it might be out of convenience and was told by the tour guide that I was right! The guide explained it was much more convenient for some women to manage their abortions at home than in a clinical setting. It would also be cheaper.
We were also told that using abortion pills was preferable to other types of things people might do to abort their pregnancy, like self-harm or taking a lot of birth control pills.
A sign hanging behind the living room noted:
“However a person wants to achieve pregnancy relief is their personal decision and should be within their power”
The sign also says that some women might also use herbs, along with the abortion pills, to manage their abortion.
“[Herbs] provide connection to our ancestral roots of bodily autonomy and community care.”
Next, we were invited to move into the kitchen. A giant trans pride flag was hung on the wall to welcome all of us.
We were offered a snack (because people who self-manage their abortions should have snacks available during the experience), and the guide explained that a nice cup of tea could really help to make the self-managed abortion more pleasant.
The guide pointed out that during the self-managed abortion, there would be cramping, bleeding, and other symptoms that might be unpleasant.
The guide suggested that if we know someone who is going to self-manage their abortion, it would be wonderful to get them a gift basket with some snacks, some tea, a heating pad, some extra pads for bleeding, and anything else they might need.
After all, true friends get their friends abortion gift baskets! It can really help them as they are “releasing products of conception.”
Next, we were invited into the bedroom. After all, relaxing in bed is a great way to spend the day or two you need to self-manage your abortion.
Signs of feminity hung above the bed. The birthing person should create a sacred space for themselves during the process to honor themselves and their body.
The tour guide explained this sacred space is especially important because oppressed and marginalized cis-gendered Black and LatinX people are the most likely to attempt a self-managed abortion because they have the greatest barriers to achieving clinical care.
Additionally, trans and non-binary birthing people were more likely to need to self-manage their abortion than cis-gendered people because it is often not safe for them to go to a clinic.
Next, we were invited into the bathroom. This is where the magic happens, if you will: The release of the product of conception:
This is where the tour guide taught us about the Abortion Doula.
Traditionally, a Doula is a professional pregnancy companion that helps families have a safe, healthy, and positive labor experience. They help women have children.
However, an Abortion Doula is different. Their job is to sit on a stool next to the birthing person while they are on the toilet bleeding, hold their hand, and provide them with comfort as they release the products of conception.
An Abortion Doula is a great resource for everyone who is self-managing an abortion!
“An abortion doulas or supportive friend can be helpful to process the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual experience of abortion.”
The guide also warned to be careful about communicating with people about their self-managed abortion because these communications can be used to criminalize people for assisting.
I asked the tour guide how much women bleed during a self-managed abortion. I was told significantly more than an average period and that it would be more blood if the pregnancy was further along.
Now, you might think the release of the products of conception would be the last stop on our self-managed abortion tour.
But no. It was not.
Our last stop was the spiritual altar or shrine.
This allows the person who just had their self-managed abortion to connect with their spirituality or community, meditate, pray, or engage in other types of spiritual healing practices:
Here is a close-up of the sacred space. It has crystals, candles, tarot cards, and all the spiritual items you might need to connect with something greater than yourself following your self-managed abortion.
“People who are self-managing their abortion may choose to incorporate spiritual practices and sacred beliefs which allow us to dive deeper into our personal agency and knowing.”
As we wrapped up our tour, we were invited to make signs that share our dreams for the future of abortion.
We were also invited to keep connected with them following our tour and, of course, order our t-shirt!
And that, comrades, was the self-managed abortion tour from the reproductive justice conference.
There will be many more articles coming in this series about My Day With The Socialists. Hang on to your hat, and make sure you subscribe to be updated about future releases.
Who’s ready to shout your abortion, with the help and support of your loving, nurturing abortion doula? Head over to Unwoke Art to learn more about this image and my thoughts behind creating it.
What do you think?
Leave a comment and let me know. And please share this material with your friends and family. You know the media isn’t going to cover it.
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I am flabbergasted and even sickened. The thing is, I'm pro-choice up to 8 or so weeks. I had an abortion in my life at around 6 weeks so I come from a place of some understanding. It was an emotional, heartbreaking experience for me. These people are so afraid to even say the words. They have come up with their own fairy tale language and the cheapest possible way to frame this sometimes traumatizing event. If anything, this turns me completely off to hearing from these people. What they are advertising is not the real world. It made my stomach turn. 😢
I'm following from Tucson, AZ, where I've lived for 20 years. I went to Mount Holyoke College, just a short bus ride from Hampshire, and I would love to know more about the Pioneer Valley! When I went to freshman orientation, we were told we were no longer girls; we were women. It was a powerful rite of passage, and to this day I make sure to speak of women with respect. Now Mount Holyoke is a women's college that admits queer people, and over fifty percent of the student body identifies as queer.