Life as an Abortion Doula [View all]

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/abortion-doula-ash-williams-1235019642/

In 2016, Ash Williams became pregnant for the first time. Williams wants to be a parent eventually — but he wasn’t ready for a child then. He didn’t know much about what an abortion entailed, and he needed a ride, so he called up a friend who drove him. When they got to the clinic, Williams, who is trans, remembers the people working there didn’t care enough to get his name right — using, instead, the name on his license. Never mind asking about pronouns.

“Working with the actual provider was really fucked up, too,” he says. “I just remember he didn’t say one word to me, and I felt sad about that.”

After the procedure, Williams’ friend, who also happens to be trans, took over. Without asking what Williams needed, his friend purchased Maxi Pads for aftercare bleeding and cooked him a pot of collard greens with ham hocks to combat the low iron levels the pregnancy caused. “She cooked it in my house and didn’t leave for like a day or two, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, you didn’t have to do that,’ ” Williams recalls. “I remember feeling like I didn’t want to be alone, but I also wasn’t using the words ‘Can you be with me?’ ”

Today, the 31-year-old Williams is an abortion doula, doing professionally what that friend did for him back then.