Here’s a 7-minute spoken word version of a poem called Radical Doula, that I wrote with the intention of: performing a ritual/role/service as a ‘long-distance doula’ for the birthing of conscious and supported abortion practices in Ireland following the vote to Repeal the 8th Amendment in 2018.

I’m sharing the Soundcloud version here to add my voice, and my body - my grief - against the news that the landmark Roe v Wade ruling has recently been overturned in the US.

I listened to an insightful astrological update this week, saying that during today’s New Moon in Cancer, conjunct Black Moon Lilith and Asteroid Lilith, we are being taken back to the origins of patriarchy to see and feel the story of oppression that it puts on/in our bodies. All our bodies.

Click below to hear the poem.

It may not be an easy/comfortable listen.

I spoke it raw.

If the audio above isn’t working, please click HERE for the original: https://soundcloud.com/sally-shakti-willow/radical-doula-by-sally-shakti-willow

Below are my notes on the text, plus a link to where you can buy Rise Up & Repeal from Sad Press.

This text is inspired by Miriam Zoila Pérez, known as The Radical Doula, whose work as a doula includes social activism for Reproductive Justice around intersectional issues of gender, race, sexuality and class. Pérez’s practice encompasses the work of a ‘full-spectrum doula’ – a doula who will assist a person throughout the full spectrum of pregnancy issues and outcomes, including voluntary or necessary abortion. This poem writes through some of Pérez’s writings on the subject of her work and includes additional research by Deirdre Cooper Owens, PhD. into the medical history of gynaecology in America. The Doula Project of New York City and the DIY Doula Zine, as well as Offbeatdoula.com, are also valuable sources of information and tips for self-care around abortion experiences.

Textual sources include:

https://radicaldoula.com

https://radicaldoula.com/2011/01/06/my-first-day-as-an-abortion-doula/

https://rewire.news/article/2018/06/01/women-behind-statue/

https://rewire.news/article/2017/08/24/statue-rethinking-j-marion-sims-legacy/

https://www.doulaproject.net

http://www.diydoula.org

http://offbeatdoula.com/fullspectrumdoulas/

Interwoven with this research is my own experience of having a conscious surgical abortion procedure in September 2015. This text is written with the intention of performing a ritual/role/service as a ‘long-distance doula’ for the birthing of conscious and supported abortion practices in Ireland following the vote to Repeal the 8th Amendment in 2018.

Radical Doula was first published in Rise Up & Repeal, Sad Press, May 2019.

https://sadpresspoetry.com/rise-up-repeal/