Doula pens book detailing complexity of abortion experiences
Hannah Matthews' view of abortion changed as she wrote expansive work
Hannah Matthews watched as there seemed to be injustice after injustice following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. She felt she had to do something.
So she wrote and published You or Someone You Love: Reflections from an Abortion Doula. The book breaks down barriers that separate abortion seekers by race, gender, gender identity, and other things.
“So I just wanted folks to understand that there are a million different access points where they could jump in and kind of just help, you know, their friend or their neighbor or their daughter, you know, be healthy and free,” Matthews said.
Matthews has a problem with people oversimplifying abortion.
“We've flattened abortion so much into this kind of political thing and this symbol, and we think we know what abortion is as a concept,” Matthews said. “But if someone says to you, ‘I had an abortion,’ that could mean you know, 45,000 different things.”
Every abortion is different. Some Catholics may see and experience it differently from an agnostic or atheistic person. Many people are answering to different gods or different rules.
“Every pregnancy is different,” Matthews said. “Every abortion is different.”
Matthews encourages abortion activists to help in any way that they can. If that means being a clinic escort once a month, then that’s a perfectly acceptable way to protect and advance abortion rights. They could give someone a ride to the airport before the person flies to a state where abortion is legal. They could make a monthly donation of $50 to an abortion fund.
Matthews thought abortion meant one overarching thing. She didn’t understand how complicated and complex it was.
When Matthews first got involved in the movement, it surprised her how disparate the people she helped were. It wasn’t all ultra-liberals from metropolitan areas. Many of the women voted for Donald Trump. She helped people as young as 13.
“It really is any of us, any of our wives, our sisters, our friends,” Matthews said. “So I think that was really what kind of expanded my mind to be like, ‘Oh, right. It's never as simple as like us versus them. Pro-choice versus Pro-life. Republicans versus Democrats.’ When it comes to abortion, actual abortions that are happening, it's everyone from all those groups.”