REPORT OF TRIP TO BERKELEY TO ATTEND BAY AREA DOULA PROJECT’S MEETING

GUEST: MOLLY DUTTON-KENNY REGARDING HOME ABORTION

I went to Berkeley on March 3rd to hear Molly Dutton-Kenny speak on home abortion.  She spoke regarding medical abortion, herbal abortion, menstrual extraction and vacuum aspiration abortion, all of which she is advocating being done at home.

Molly has observed women receiving vacuum aspiration abortions in a home setting in other countries.  She travelled to Mali to learn about female health care.  She has worked with IPAS for a time.  She learned about menstrual extraction from reading “A Woman’s Book of Choices”, and she learned about vacuum aspiration abortion from WHO informational material.  She has personal experience with taking herbal abortafacients. She is presently a midwife and is based in California and Canada.   

She was delighted that I was at the meeting, and turned it over to me to speak about Menstrual Extraction.  The group showed great interest in all the types of home abortion that she talked about.  There was a member of Shodhini who lives in the bay area at the meeting, and she was approached about starting a self-help group there.

I believe that Washington State’s abortion law, which was voted on by the people before Roe v. Wade, could be interpreted to permit home abortion.  Medical abortion, taking mifepristone and then expelling the embryo at home, offers a opportunity for a doula to provide information and support.  Herbal abortion is becoming a feasible alternative to females.  In all of the above situations, including vacuum aspiration, it is an experienced person either providing information and support or actual hands-on assistance, however menstrual extraction as developed by the Feminist Women's Health Centers requires a group of minimally-trained women who have learned through vaginal self-examination together how to do the procedure.  

Molly’s ideas are very provocative, and I hope to hear more about it from her in the future.