Herbal Support During Medical Abortion Project

About the Project

Medical abortion is the termination of an early pregnancy using pharmaceutical medications. These are most commonly supplied by a registered doctor in an abortion clinic, however, some people may access the medication in different settings where abortion is criminalised. The term ‘medication abortion’ is now becoming common as a way to differentiate abortions using medication from other kinds of abortion that are in medical settings, such as vacuum aspiration. The use of medications to end a pregnancy has revolutionised access to safer abortion services worldwide.

However, there is little formal research regarding the safety of herbs using herbs in conjunction with these medications to alleviate side effects and aid recovery, emotionally and physically. This project aims to identify plant medicines used by abortion support workers; herbalists, nurses, midwives, doulas, and volunteers who may offer emotional, practical or clinical support to people experiencing medical abortion.

I am undertaking this research project as part of my clinical training with the Plant Medicine School. I aim to create a resource that can be shared widely with people experiencing abortion and those supporting them who want to use plant medicines as safely and effectively as possible.

The Survey

I am confident that there is an abundance of practical knowledge in the grassroots abortion care networks around the world that support people far and wide to access safer abortion care. This survey has been designed to collate some of that knowledge in regards to the roles of plant medicines.

Please find the link to the online survey here: https://cloud.seatable.io/dtable/forms/631f0f9c-43af-4eb9-96b0-7b2d376c2e75/

For people completing the survey these are important things to know:

• Information will be stored confidentially and not be shared without consent.
• The form offers a consent option detailing if you would like your responses to be anonymous or presented in different ways (full name, initials, first name, project name).
• The deadline for contributions is the 5th of September 2021.
• Individuals or groups that need financial support in order to free up the time to participate in the survey, please get in touch.
• Please contact me by the 5th September 2021 if you would like to withdraw permission to use data from the survey, in which case your responses will be deleted.
• The information will be used and presented in an academic report submitted to the Plant Medicine School in September 2021 as part of my clinical training. All survey participants will be sent a copy of the report via email.
• My goal is to hopefully create an e-book or publication presenting the research in a more useful way that can be shared via my website. This is likely to be for sale, however, as with all my publications, no one is ever turned away for lack of funds. Free copies are available at all times to anyone that requests a copy of any of my books. Many books are also donated to grassroots projects around the world. Long-term, I would love to create an online webinar or workshop with content from the project too. I sell publications as a way to fundraise for my work in supporting people experiencing state violence. Learn more about my work here.
• Please email any questions to info@solidarityapothecary.org, please allow a few days for a reply. You can also use this contact form and find my PGP key to send an encrypted message here.

Thank you so much for your time, energy and solidarity in sharing your experiences and knowledge. Please share this project with people who may be interested!