New York City has a reputation for the unusual. Now it’s given birth to the idea of “abortion doulas.” The ironic choice of words was intentional. Lauren Mitchell and her colleagues, Mary Mahoney and Miriam Perez, have formed what they call the Doula Project operating from two Manhattan abortion mills, one specializing in late-term abortions.
Doula comes from a Greek word meaning a female caregiver. A modern-day doula provides non-medical assistance before, during and after childbirth. Her goal is to see to the physical and emotional needs of both mother and child. This could include pre-birth advice on parenting, massages during labor and even help taking care of the child and household chores after delivery. If Mitchell et.al. get their way, the positive, life-affirming reputation of doulas could be tainted by abortion-teaching to coach mothers not in the birth, but killing of their children.
Originally dubbed the Abortion Doula Project, the word “abortion” was likely dropped to appeal to more potential customers who may be put off by killing unborn babies, but are in need of legitimate doula services.
Abortion doulas are paid for their macabre services or may act as volunteers. Internet accounts from most abortion doulas reflect involvement with late-term abortion procedures. After reading several of these, I’m led to believe their primary role is public relations and damage control. One could legitimately surmise that their goal is to keep the woman from focusing on the reality of the procedure and becoming an emotional wreck.
Lauren Mitchell was with a woman who could see the ultrasound image of her unborn child about to be killed by a lethal injection. Mitchell’s role was to essentially be a visual buffer hiding the reality of this mother’s action. The mother turned her head and buried her face in Mitchell’s arms.
A key function of the abortion doula is to reinforce the mother’s decision to abort. They claim their services are needed to provide “extra reassurance” to the teen who’s having an abortion without the knowledge of her parents, or for the woman who’s hiding her pregnancy from the father of the baby. Instead of enabling these women to abort in secret, these key members of their families should be involved in this permanent, life-changing decision. Laura G. Duncan, an abortion doula from Brooklyn, admitted there’s an “incredible [amount of] shame and stigma surrounding abortion.” Obviously they feel it’s their calling to free pregnant women from these obstacles to “choice.” But where will these abortion helpers be when days, months or years later, these hurting mothers are faced with an inescapable sense of loss, depression and regret?
An article posted on Women’s eNews reported that abortionists can do 30 abortions a day “in an assembly-line fashion” with little time to offer critical counseling. Sadly, personal attention, such as holding their hand, hot water bottles and foot rubs aren’t what these women require most. They need someone to look them in the eyes and say, “You don’t have to kill your unborn child. There are other life-affirming choices that both you and your baby can life with.” This type of care and compassion for women facing an unexpected pregnancy is desperately more important than a warm blanket.
The so-called abortion doulas are getting pushback not only from legitimate pro-life doulas. They’re receiving flack from their own side. Some fellow pro-abortion activists are furious these women would even acknowledge the negatives of abortion. They’ve spent decades claiming that terminating pregnancies does not bring difficult, painful or troubling consequences. Promoting this service is the ultimate admission they were wrong.
This latest scheme by supporters of the abortion industry is a thinly veiled attempt to mainstream abortion by blurring the line between the act of bringing a child into the world and intentionally killing them. Mary Mahoney admitted that their goal is to train abortion doulas throughout the nation. I would expect them to attempt using abortion doulas as a platform to expand the shrinking number of abortionists in America. Pro-abortion activists have already advocated allowing nurses to perform abortions, particularly chemical abortions. It would be all too convenient to mobilize a network of abortion doulas to expand the workforce of this killing industry.
In the past, women have had to inquire if their OB/GYN did abortions. Now we may be coming to an era when women will have to ask the same question of their doulas.
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