Abortion, with love

This episode is part of the Abortion Love Letters Mini-Series, releasing every Monday.

Abortion, with Love is a podcast dedicated to reclaiming the ways that we talk about abortion.
Website: www.abortionwithlove.com
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @abortionwithluv
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/abortionlove

Bringing Down The Flowers is a free monthly newsletter where Hannah Matthews shares writing, art, ideas, and media in support of everyone’s abortion experiences. Hannah’s writing has been featured in ELLE, Esquire, Teen Vogue, and other outlets, and her book about community abortion care and support work is forthcoming from Atria Books in 2023. You can subscribe to the newsletter at bringingdowntheflowers.substack.com

This episode is part of the Abortion Love Letters Mini-Series, releasing every Monday.

Abortion, with Love is a podcast dedicated to reclaiming the ways that we talk about abortion.
Website: www.abortionwithlove.com
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @abortionwithluv
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/abortionlove

Bringing Down The Flowers is a free monthly newsletter where Hannah Matthews shares writing, art, ideas, and media in support of everyone’s abortion experiences. Hannah’s writing has been featured in ELLE, Esquire, Teen Vogue, and other outlets, and her book about community abortion care and support work is forthcoming from Atria Books in 2023. You can subscribe to the newsletter at bringingdowntheflowers.substack.com

This episode is part of the Abortion Love Letters Mini-Series, releasing every Monday.
CW: there's one mention of sexual abuse at 02:24. The written version of the letter does not contain this mention.

Abortion, with Love is a podcast dedicated to reclaiming the ways that we talk about abortion.
Website: www.abortionwithlove.com
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @abortionwithluv
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/abortionlove

Bringing Down The Flowers is a free monthly newsletter where Hannah Matthews shares writing, art, ideas, and media in support of everyone’s abortion experiences. Hannah’s writing has been featured in ELLE, Esquire, Teen Vogue, and other outlets, and her book about community abortion care and support work is forthcoming from Atria Books in 2023. You can subscribe to the newsletter at bringingdowntheflowers.substack.com

This episode is part of the Abortion Love Letters Mini-Series, releasing every Monday.

Abortion, with Love is a podcast dedicated to reclaiming the ways that we talk about abortion.
Website: www.abortionwithlove.com
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @abortionwithluv
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/abortionlove

Bringing Down The Flowers is a free monthly newsletter where Hannah Matthews shares writing, art, ideas, and media in support of everyone’s abortion experiences. Hannah’s writing has been featured in ELLE, Esquire, Teen Vogue, and other outlets, and her book about community abortion care and support work is forthcoming from Atria Books in 2023. You can subscribe to the newsletter at bringingdowntheflowers.substack.com

On this episode, I talk to Monste Olmos about her work as a birth worker, and the ways that she uses herbs and other ancestral practices to support people's reproductive experiences. We talk about abortion being an ancestral practice, something that has happened all throughout history, before western medicine and the advent of abortion pills. Montse shares her experiences around pregnancy and abortion, and we talk about what it means to share our stories and knowledge publicly.

Montse Olmos (she/her) was born in Mexico City and grew up in the states of Nuevo León and
Tamaulipas. She comes from a mixed lineage and identifies as Totonaca-Nahuatl. Trained by
Ancient Song Doula Services, she is a Full-Spectrum Birth Companion (with a focus on fertility, abortion, postpartum and everyting in between) for QTBIPOC folx. Montse is passionate about addressing racism within the birth community and globally. She created the first-of-its-kind online course titled, Cultural Appropriation in Rebozo Work, which addresses the decolonial history of this sacred textile and connects it to anti-racism education. Montse is also an international speaker on Indigenous sovereignty and autonomy as well as issues such as extractivism and the commodification of Indigenous knowledge and traditions. She has presented her work at the National Midwifery Institute, The Educated Birth and the SIAParto Conference in Brazil, to name a few. Currently, Montse is an abortion educator at DOPO, a UK-based organization dedicated to providing abortion support and educational resources to all gender birthing people. In addition, she provides mentorship to other Doulas at Manhattan Birth. When she’s not investing her time in birth work, Montse cultivates corn, beans, squash and medicinal herbs. She also performs traditional music with her band, Grupo Tepeyolohtli, is a traditional danzante, and homeschools her two daughters.

Links:
Montse's Instagram: @mujer_dela_tierra
Montse's Linktree (with offerings & ways to support her work)
Herbal Abortion Intro Class
Montse's Patreon

Ancient Song Doula Services

Abortion, with love
Website
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @AbortionWithLuv

 Young people face specific barriers to accessing abortion services, and we need to be providing abortion services that are tailored to the specific needs of young people. So how do we provide abortion services and abortion support to young people in a way that recognises the diversity of young people's experiences?

On today’s episode Carly and I talk about providing abortion services to young people, and how we can do better in being adult companions and supporting young people in their abortion experiences. We talk about adultcentrism in abortion work, how abortion movement work and services are often led by and tailored to adults and as a result, we risk infantilising young people and assuming certain things about their reproductive lives and decision making capacity based on their age.

Carly Manes (she/her) is a white, queer, Jewish full-spectrum doula from New York. She has always believed that young people deserve transparency when it comes to information about their sexual health and bodies. Carly has been a practicing abortion doula for over six years, supporting more than 2,000 individuals during their in-clinic procedures. She loves the beach, chicken tenders, and her communities. She lives with her partner Mo and their playful pitbull Mickey.

Links:
"What's An Abortion, Anyway" Book by Carly Manes & Emulsify
Episode 17 of Abortion, with Love: "What's An Abortion, Anyway?" A Children's Book about Abortion

Youth Organisations:
Advocates for Youth: Abortion Out Loud
YouAct: A European Youth Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Youth Coalition: an international organization of young people committed to promoting adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive rights at the national, regional and international levels
YANAA (the Young Activist Network for Abortion Advocacy), is an international network by and for young people that focuses on activism and advocacy in relation to safe abortion.

Follow Abortion, with Love
Website
Instagram
Twitter

On today’s episode you’ll hear Lou tell her abortion story. Lou doesn’t feel like her abortion was her choice. It was what her boyfriend at the time wanted, and because she loved him and trusted him, she felt like that was the right thing to do. It’s been almost two years since her abortion, and Lou is still grieving, still having a hard time moving on from this experience. She's grieving not just the loss of the pregnancy, but the loss of agency and choice. She's not sure what she would have decided if she was given the opportunity to choose. But she was never given that opportunity.

Lou felt very lonely throughout this whole process, she felt like she couldn't tell anyone what she was going through. She hopes that by sharing her story, others who are going through similar experiences will see that they are not alone. 

Let's just say, my Mum wasn't thrilled when I told her I was starting a podcast about abortion. I think she wishes I'd spend this time and energy working towards preventing unwanted pregnancies. But the podcast has given us the opportunity to talk about our disagreements, to listen to each other, and to open up about our own experiences around pregnancy and loss. These conversations haven't been easy, but I like to think that they've helped us get closer, and learn to accept our differences and still support and love each other. Now, my Mum is one of my biggest supports, she listens to the episodes, gives me feedback, and shares the podcast with her friends.

On this episode, I have a conversation with my Mum and we talk about all of this. She explains her points of view around abortion, and tells us which parts of my views make her uncomfortable. We talk about our relationship, especially around our roles as mother and daughter, and how to adjust our expectations of each other, and be able to  respect that we are both adults with our own opinions and experiences.

Trigger warning:  while in general my mother believes that abortions are necessary and need to be legal and available, there are still certain areas where she draws the line. Some of the things she says may be considered stigmatising, specifically around people having more than one abortion, and people who, according to my mum, view abortions as a "nonchalant" thing.

Support the podcast!
Abortion, with love Website
Donation Link
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @AbortionWithLuv

On this episode, Jess and I talk about what it's like to build a career around abortion, and how to make boundaries between your work and your personal life. Jess lives in Texas, USA and works in abortion advocacy.  We start the conversation by talking a bit about the Texas Abortion Ban, Senate Bill 8 (SB8), and the implications that it has on abortion seekers and those supporting abortion seekers. We then move on to talk about working for others hand having to compromise your values in order to get paid, navigating conversations about abortion outside of work, rethinking movement work in a way that centres community and pleasure, and preserving your energy. 

Jess Pires-Jancose (she/they) is a cancer who loves plants, queer young-adult fantasy, skincare, and having deep meaningful conversations with strangers and loved ones. In their professional life, Jess is a community organiser with Avow, a Texas-based organisation that promotes unapologetic abortion advocacy.

To support people in Texas seeking abortions and donate to abortion funds:
Avow Texas (instagram handle: @avowtexas) - will split all donations evenly across all abortion funds.
NeedAbortion.org - information on how to get an abortion in Texas

Mentioned on this episode:
The Nap Ministry
adrienne maree brown's book: Pleasure Activism

Support the podcast!
Abortion, with love website
Donation Link
Instagram: @abortionwithlove
Twitter: @AbortionWithLuv

On this episode, Daniela talks about the essay she wrote, “on heartbreak and longing and hope”.  We talk about how being an activist means getting your heart broken over and over, and having to recognise and tend to the heartbreak in order to create a sustainable movement. We discuss the value of political homes, how we practice hope, and the importance of having boundaries and allowing ourselves to takes breaks and rest from political work.

Daniela Tejas Miguez (she/her):
Runner, embroiderer, chingona, and bisexual. Feminist against fascism, racism, and transphobia. Proud abortionist creating networks for sexual and reproductive justice. In eternal search for pleasure, joy, magic and good tea.

Corredora, bordadora, chingona y bisexual. Feminista contra el fascismo, el racismo, y la transphobia. Orgullosamente abortista tejiendo redes para lograr la justicia sexual y reproductiva. En eterna búsqueda del placer, el goce, la magia y el buen té.

Links and Resources:

"On Heartbreak and longing and hope" by Daniela Tejas Miguez

Octavia’s Brood, edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha 

“What’s an Abortion Anyway” by Carly Manes & Emulsify