An abortion doula named Whitney describes being in the room during a second trimester abortion. The woman is asleep from anesthesia.
“In the background, music is playing. The doctors talk quietly about their upcoming vacations and the weather.
The doulas almost all say that they expect a certain reverence to fill the OR during an abortion, an air that is hushed, respectful, sometimes somber, and maybe even celebratory…We are often surprised when we see that for some people, especially the doctors and the nurses who do surgeries and abortions all day, every day, sometimes it’s just a job.”
Mary Mahoney and Lauren Mitchell The Doulas: Radical Care for Pregnant People (New York: Feminist Press, 2016) 93
