Abortion Support Services Atlantic (ASSA) offers non-medical support to anyone who needs an abortion, helping women in the Atlantic navigate the medical system, find a place to spend the night, if needed, or cover travel costs.
The group was founded in 2012 and usually has a total of 30 volunteers available across the Maritimes, but now its volunteer number has grown to 60 in the last few months.
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The group’s founder, Shannon Hardy, said the increase of volunteers has been in reaction to the heated abortion debate in the United States, which is making some people “angry and frustrated.”
“When you open up your social media or you turn on the news and you hear that you aren’t being given the same rights as other people … that your health-care accessibility is potentially being eroded because you are being invalidated, people can’t hold onto that inside,” Hardy said.
“It’s harmful. It causes trauma, and so I think when people see that, they feel the need to do something, and volunteering is a good way to do that.”
Trauma-informed training sessions getting full
This year, several U.S states have passed laws restricting access to safe abortion for women, with Alabama passing a near-total ban. The laws impose criminal penalties on those who perform abortions.
“If you’re an elected representative in Canada, your job is to protect charter rights. Health care is a charter right, abortion (is a charter right),” Hardy said. “(In) 1988, (Dr. Henry) Morgentaler codified our right to abortion services. You can’t be an elected representative and also be vocally against charter rights.”
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In April, Hardy — who is also a sexual and reproductive wellness coach — offered three trauma-informed abortion training sessions in St. John’s, N.L., around the same time that the U.S debate over anti-abortion laws was at its peak.
She said that for the first time, all three training sessions were full, with more people registering on the wait list.
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“I think it was just a confluence of events that these three trainings happened at exactly the same time things were happening in the United States. People were feeling that need to do something,” Hardy said.
‘The concept of an abortion is still fairly new’
She said people of all ages were at the sessions, with some who were never involved in politics before.
“We’ve actually had a lot of folks contacting us or just saying thank you for doing this work,” said Emma Duke, a volunteer with ASSA in St. John’s who also attended the sessions.
She said accessing abortion services is difficult, but with people’s support, things might be a little easier. Duke said people can help by going with women to hospital appointments, donating money or volunteering to drive them to places.
“(The increase in volunteers) is improving the way that people experience their abortion, where it might have been more stressful because they didn’t have support or they didn’t have a ride to get there so definitely volunteers are filling that,” Hardy said.
“I think people accessing abortion are probably having a better experience, but I don’t think the system itself is changing in any significant way.”
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