ABORTION AS PORTAL

Jun 27

Quote: “Be patient with yourself. Patience is one part of self-compassion. You are listening and learning something new, and you are doing the work. It doesn’t have to look like anything more grand than that.”

“Home” can be an inner place of true belonging, but how do we find the courage and support to embody our wholeness and ecological selves even through an experience that is often met with shame and judgment by the dominant culture? In chapter 7, Abortion as Portal, I share my personal abortion story and how this experience was an opening into healing, self love, and community care.

I also interview Kristen Portney MFT. In a society where abortion often comes with feelings such as shame, stigma, and otherness, Kristen has created Abortion Wheel, a place where people can come to share honestly about their own unique stories. Kristen is a post- abortion counselor and community mental health advocate. With training in counseling psychology and also as a birth and abortion doula, she leads workshops using ritual and community- resourcing for people who have experienced one or multiple abortions. Kristen views abortion as a portal - an opening into exploring, with guided support, the layered experience of having gone through an abortion.

Kristen was the guide that I so needed then, and her voice and wisdom can offer those who have experienced abortion much needed perspective on how going through this portal can be a doorway into healing, empowerment, and creativity.

Each episode ends with a Root Awareness meditation.