What’s
an Abortion, Anyway?

 

“What’s an Abortion, Anyway?” is a medically accurate, non-judgmental, and gender-inclusive resource for young folks about abortion care.

In this book, you’ll learn about what an abortion is, some of the reasons people have abortions, and a few of the ways people might feel about their abortions.

 

Why is this book important
and who is behind it?

 

Abortion can be a difficult topic to broach among adults, let alone children. As abortion doulas, we know how important it is to ensure that everyone has the resources they need to have intentional, compassionate, and nonjudgmental conversations about abortion care with the young people in their lives. To our knowledge, there are currently no published books in the US that use the word “abortion” for children under the age of 13. Parents, caretakers, and providers need and deserve a nonjudgmental, gender-inclusive, and medically accurate resource to use in discussions with children about abortion.

That is why we wrote “What’s an Abortion, Anyway?”. Our intention is for this book to be a starting point - just one initial resource for parents, caretakers, and those wanting to talk to the young people in their lives about abortion care. As you’ll discover in the book’s text, the language used is devoid of gender or a traditional narrative arc due to the expansive, complex nature of abortion care. To use a traditional narrative arc would be to erase the millions of individual stories and reasons that people seek abortion care. It is important to us that this book does not perpetuate the ideology that there “good” reasons or “bad” reasons to have an abortion.

 

Meet the Author

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Carly Manes (she/her) is a white, queer, Jewish full-spectrum doula from New York. She has always believed that young people deserve transparency when it comes to information about their sexual health and bodies. Carly has been a practicing abortion doula for over six years, supporting more than 2,000 individuals during their in-clinic procedures. She loves the beach, chicken tenders, and her communities. She lives with her partner Mo and their playful pitbull Mickey.

Meet the Illustrator

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Mar (they/them) is a brown genderqueer cultural worker and full-spectrum doula. Under the name Emulsify, they create art that helps them heal, learn, advocate, and imagine new worlds. They believe all art is powerful and political. M lives in Brooklyn with their wife and spends a lot of time creating while snuggling their pups. Through their work, M has made incredible friendships, learned from brilliant peers, and found their home.

This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever had or will ever have an abortion(s).

We want to thank our friends, family, and community members who read the many draft iterations of this book and provided critical feedback. We also want to thank all of the We Testify storytellers and Dr. Jamila Perritt who graciously shared their images with us for this book.