Doulas and acompañantes

Non-clinical abortion support after Dobbs

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19491817
AutoresCory Ellen Gatrall (0009-0007-4047-6619, San Francisco VA Health Care System, autor de correspondencia), Sarah McCoy-Harms (San Francisco VA Health Care System), Samantha Auerbach (0000-0002-2855-7076, San Francisco VA Health Care System), Nikki Lanshaw (0000-0002-7853-2870, San Francisco VA Health Care System), Rekha Mehra (0000-0002-9794-2971, San Francisco VA Health Care System), Linda S Franck (0000-0003-4291-9181, San Francisco VA Health Care System)
Año2026
Volumen9
Páginas100732
Fecha de publicación2026-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSSM - Qualitative Research in Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2667-3215 • E-ISSN: 2667-3215
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ssmqr.2026.100732
OpenAlexW7130691475
IdiomaES
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas40

In a rapidly shifting ecosystem of abortion care in the United States, non-clinicians who offer support to abortion clients throughout their abortion process occupy a critical niche. Often called abortion doulas or full spectrum doulas, they support clients through the full range of abortion experiences, from highly medicalized instrumentation procedures to medication abortions conducted fully outside the formal healthcare system (“self-managed medication abortion”). While there is robust literature on Latin American feminist abortion accompaniment networks and the acompañantes who provide support through them, less has been written about the work of abortion doulas and acompañantes supporting clients in the United States. To our knowledge, this is the first study to collect data about their experiences in the wake of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This study explores the perspectives of non-clinicians providing abortion support to clients in California, using reflexive thematic analysis and frameworks of reproductive justice and reproductive governance. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with nine people who provide such support, our results highlight concerns about possibilities of criminalization in an increasingly restrictive legal environment and desires to collaborate in building strong foundations for non-clinical abortion support work in the future. Results also reflect how networks strategize to provide culturally and linguistically concordant support for immigrant communities. These research findings support policy and programmatic investment in non-clinical abortion support networks, as well as future community-led partnerships for research and knowledge production related to abortion support by non-clinicians. • Non-clinical abortion support is active, extensive and understudied in the US • US abortion clients receive support from non-clinicians based in the US and abroad • Abortion doulas and acompañantes increasingly fear criminalization after Dobbs • Doulas and acompañantes contribute to knowledge production

Abortion · Criminalization · Health care · Misoprostol · Reproductive health · Reproductive justice · Thematic analysis · Unsafe abortion · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies