PerthNow: Australia’s first peer-support group The Abortion Project helps people with post-abortion aftercare.
Two Fremantle women are offering post-abortion peer support, based on the shortcomings of their own personal experiences.
Friends Lily McAuliffe and Sarah Hult both had an abortion between 2017 and 2018 and discovered that besides each other, there was not many places to turn for support in Western Australia.
It led them to want to provide for others what was missing for them — a peer support group — which is how The Abortion Project came to fruition.
“It was something that we were qualified to do and it was also addressing an area that we really felt was missing from abortion care in Australia, which is the after-care,” Ms McAuliffe said.
“They estimate between one in four and one in six Australians will have an abortion in their lifetime so considering how prevalent it is, and yet there’s no community or no visible communities, is just so bizarre to me.”
The group this week received the backing of Health Minister Amber Jade Sanderson, who said while the State Government funds “unintended pregnancy counselling for women” across WA, she recognised that peer support was incredibly beneficial.
“In the metropolitan area, these professional counselling services are available through Sexual Health Quarters, while support services are also available in major regional population centres,” Ms Sanderson said.
“We recognise peer support for people who have had an abortion is also incredibly beneficial and welcome The Abortion Project’s efforts in this space.”
The Abortion Project began in July last year. Those involved meet every two weeks where they discuss different topics and offer support to one another about abortion after-care.
“One thing that we hear over and over again with people coming to the group is ‘I didn’t have anywhere to go’ or ‘I haven’t spoken about this with anyone before’,” Ms McAuliffe said.
“Obviously you can go and talk to a psychologist about it but it’s still very much in this individual realm where its sort of private and silenced.
“You can see a psychologist or counsellor but that’s all at a cost unless you can access a service for free, so one of the things that was really important to us, and remains really important to us, is that The Abortion Project is free.”
Since they created the group Ms Hult has moved to Darwin, and plans to expand its service and support throughout the Northern Territory.
“As far as we know, we’re the only peer support group in Australia at the moment, so there’s lots of room for us to be creative and grow,” Ms McAuliffe said.
Millions of people in America are currently protesting after it was announced that the US Supreme Court had provisionally voted to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that legalised abortion nationwide in America.
Currently, abortion is legal in WA up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy but Ms McAuliffe said she was nervous about what the Roe vs Wade outcome could mean for laws in Australia.
“The real danger in these laws changing in America is that people have always sought out abortion and they always will,” she said.
“All the laws do is enable or disable someone from being able to access a safe abortion. People will die if these laws get repealed in America and people sustain injuries that are irreversible.”
For those wanting to join the peer support group, more information can be found on Instagram page The Abortion Project.