THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND SOMEWHERE INBETWEEN
COME TOGETHER OVER YOUR ABORTION
POST-ABORTION CARE offers a community-based, six-week workshop for individuals who had an abortion and felt grief for that loss.
The workshop
The basis of POST-ABORTION CARE is the six-week, closed group workshop. Six to eight students come together to learn self-care modalities and healing tools, participate in discussions on relevant topics pertaining to abortion, and process and grow in community. Students also produce three projects: an interview of another student, focusing on that student’s abortion experience, a creative representation of their own abortion experience using a medium of their choice, and an original ceremony to mark their abortion.
Frequency
The in-person workshop or its equivalent will be offered periodically (as of now, twice in the spring semester and twice in the fall semester), with all upcoming events posted on the webpage.
Format
Each class will be slightly different, but will include a combination of the following elements: Healing Tools (mini-lessons), Discussion Topics (discussion and/or journaling), and Project Work (time to work on your three major projects).
Materials
Snacks, small journals, folders, and any texts we use will be provided. Pens, pastels, body-sized paper, and other select art materials will be available; students may need to supply their own specialty art materials. Water bottles are recommended.
Class Norms
Everyone is encouraged to be respectful, participate, arrive on time, and stay for the full session, but aside from that, the space is each group’s to co-create. Additionally, while cross-talk is welcomed, giving advice may be discouraged.
About the Founder
Lily Andrews is a 32-year-old non-native New Yorker who had an abortion in 2016.
After struggling to find any acknowledgment for her complex grief in the wider world, she decided to create for those who had an abortion a dignified, caring and no-nonsense healing experience—a sense of recognition, a kind of ceremony, an experience of supportive community—enter POST-ABORTION CARE.
Lily is a student of racial and gender justice, a graduate of a women’s studies program, a creative writer with an MFA in nonfiction, a teacher of students K-12, a community activist, and an all-around badass. She is warm, affectionate, and has an *extra dry* sense of humor.
A note on the political climate: Lily is unapologetically Pro-Choice. However, while we welcome thoughtful discussions on the ethics of abortion, we will leave the highly-charged political debate out of it.
Frequently Asked questions
Are you pro-choice?
There is no binary between grief and relief. While powerful forces want you to believe that you should either shout your abortion, or campaign against the right to choose, the truth is that the emotional fallout of abortion is often much more complex. We support a pregnant person’s right to choose. We also support your right to grieve, wail, regret, release, jump for joy, cry, ask for forgiveness, ask for compassion, ask for understanding, seek community, seek support, seek healing, and come together in the mess of it all.
How recently do I need to have had an abortion?
No cap: there is no cap on how recently you need to have had an abortion. If it was ten, twenty, or fifty years ago, but it still haunts you, please feel welcome to join.
Can I join if my abortion was like, yesterday?
Mmm, probably not a good idea. Let’s talk.
Do I really need to have had an abortion to join this workshop?
Yes, unequivocally.
What if I don’t feel grief for my abortion?
Maybe the workshop isn’t for you. This workshop intends to address complex post-abortion feelings, including loss, guilt, grief, regret, relief, joy, and gratitude, some of which aren’t typically acknowledged.
What if I identify as LGBTQ+?
You’re welcome to join. While I will be creating the curriculum from a cis-woman’s perspective (with its accompanying blind spots), I will offer the workshop using gender-neutral language, ask for student pronouns, and tailor curriculum to the concerns of students in the class.
What if I can’t pay?
No worries. We still want you to participate. Sliding scale pricing starts at $180 for the full workshop (or $30/session). An option to attend via trade ($0 in exchange for getting the word out) is also available. Please reach out to Lily to request sliding scale, trade, or to make alternative arrangements.