THE ABORTION DOULA

Meet Sarah, for obvious reasons I wanted to talk with her because of the current Abortion rights shit show we're in in our country at the moment, it's a nightmare, especially for women and non binary and trans folks who need access to an abortion, but live in a state (like TEXAS) that is literally targeting them. This year I've had the opportunity to tell my own abortion story, that is now almost 20 years old, but because of shame and stigma it's taken me this long to just fucking say it. Yes I had an abortion, I was 20 ish and poor and a survivor of childhood trauma and a single queer mother and so on, and it was a less than ideal situation to bring another child into, so I made an informed decision. One of the things I really appreciate about this open discussion with Sarah is that she is a fierce person who works in healthcare, and is raising two children and has also had an abortion. A LOT of us have and we are grateful, we are not ashamed and we are here to say it is not a crime. And it isn't always a choice to carry out a pregnancy even when you would like to, our bodies are put through so much for mental health and reproduction, not to mention sexual trauma, so it it should come as no surprise that we need to be able to make the best decisions we can under the worst of circumstances. Like most of my conversations we have open dialogue and sharing about how we have managed to somehow not die, and actually thrive after living through heartbreaking situations. And I really loved that in the beginning of our convo her kids were there sharing pre bed time stories with me about their funeral for a raccoon! Sarah is someone I admire deeply because of her passion and her radical honesty and someone I would absolutely want on my side. She has an amazing laugh and a bit of that spicy witch spirit I relate to, and I'm so grateful that she shared her story with me.