They train participants to perform do-it-yourself abortions.
QUICK FACTS:
- An Iowa-based volunteer group known as the ‘Iowa Jane Collective’ recently held “abortion doula” training.
- The event instructed participants on how to carry out at-home DIY abortions and give aid to pregnant women as states restrict abortion procedures.
- An undercover journalist who signed up for the training seminar held virtually on July 9 described how the group was attempting to circumvent state abortion laws following the overturning of federal abortion protections.
- The training was free and advertised how participants would “Learn how to offer physical, emotional, and spiritual support to someone during their abortion process.”
- The group also offered “logistical information about different types of abortion procedures, where to get abortion care in Iowa, and payment options.”
DETAILS ABOUT THE HOST GROUP:
- The Iowa Jane Collective requested $5 to $50 in donations from participants, and proposed that “white folks who register for this training to donate at the higher end of this scale.”
- “They cannot and will not stop us from protecting one another and providing each other with access to safe abortion. This court is illegitimate, our human rights are innate and NO MATTER WHAT WE PROTECT US!” the group declared on June 24 after the Supreme Court issued its abortion opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
- Several pro-abortion organizations used the moniker “Jane Collective” before Roe, when abortion was outlawed in a number of states. In the 1960s, activists helped women get covert abortions, frequently in dangerous settings out of concern about being caught by the police.
BACKGROUND:
- CNN published a report Wednesday explaining that abortion doulas are not medical practitioners or even midwives. Instead, they offer advice and assistance to women seeking abortion services. Examples might include assisting a lady book an appointment with an abortion facility, giving guidance, or holding her hand throughout the process.
- The Iowa Jane Collective claimed that an “abortion doula” is “a person who provides compassionate and nonjudgmental support throughout an abortion experience,” according to the slideshow presentation by the group.
