The only person who should carry out an abortion under any circumstances is a doctor and it is dangerous, and may be fatal, to do it at home.
If you come away with nothing else from this, please let it be that. It is possible to give yourself an abortion but please don't try because you might end up dead.
So if you suspect you're pregnant here's what to do.
1. Don't panic - if you panic that's when you'll make bad choices. And so we come to the choices.
2. You can do nothing, and carry the baby to term if you are pregnant. I'm a witch so I'm pro choice: people who are for abortion don't want to force them on people.
3. If you don't want a baby my advice would be to get medical help as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours of sex. In the UK https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/contraception/where-can-i-get-emergency-contraception/ will tell you where to get emergency contraception. In the US this is how to get it (See below for avoiding a digital record of this).
4. Otherwise, in the UK you can have a medical abortion usually up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and in very limited circumstances after that. You can find out more at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/abortion/. In the US I have heard good things about I Need an Abortion and Online Abortion Resources.
(Incidentally if you have been using a period tracking app in the US just delete it and all its data anyway because you may be breaking your state law if you terminate a pregnancy and you don't want to give the pigs evidence.)
5. Human life doesn't always work the way we want it to but I'm a witch so I try to live in an intentional way. Some people get very ashamed at the idea of planning to have sex but if it saves you from this trouble it's as well to get on contraception anyway. In the UK Your Contraception Guide will tell you all you need to know and in the US the relevant CDC guide is here.
The next bit might be a bit witchy or just plain difficult to stomach so feel free to exit here and the blessing of the Goddess go with you.
6. If you are unfortunate enough to live in a state where the conservatives carry out the next stage of their campaign and ban contraception, you're basically back in the past. I'm afraid I have to say that none of the things women used to do to try to avoid pregnancy is reliable. I am however reminded that years ago I had a red hot book from the second wave of feminism called A Lesbian Herbal. Obviously it had a particular agenda but it's words 'the only guaranteed way not to get pregnant is lesbian sex'* seared themselves across my mind. I don't think the conservative Christians and Catholics have put much thought into the reality that if they ban contraception it won't stop people having sex and we all know you don't get pregnant by oral and anal sex. Here is a sensible guide about getting ready for anal if you want to try. If you do, and you live in a red state please write your representative to tell them what their policies have driven you to.
Updated 8/7/22 with further information (Source) on avoiding criminalization in the US:
Leave no online footprint of searches or purchases. Digital Defense Fund’s abortion privacy guide is your go-to resource for this. Using private browsers, two-factor authentication, encrypted messaging, strong passwords, etc. is critical. Google searches have been presented as evidence in an SMA trial before. Do not leave a digital trail.
Use the medications properly to prevent interactions with healthcare providers. The pills are very effective, but they have to be used right. Carefully follow the instructions provided on the How to Use Abortion Pill website. Note that misoprostol tablets should always be taken by dissolving them under the tongue. Do NOT insert misoprostol vaginally if you are self-managing an abortion. While this is medically safe, it can leave incriminating pill remnants that can be detected in the vagina during a pelvic exam if you end up needing to seek medical care.
If it’s not an emergency but you need expert health advice, use a free calling service like Google Voice to call or text the Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline at 1-833-246-2632. Medical complications are very uncommon with abortion pills, but they’re not impossible. The M+A Hotline is safe to use and is staffed by trustworthy clinicians who volunteer their time to help those who choose SMA. Do not use your own phone number to call as this will create a record that is visible to your cell service provider.
Don’t disclose any information about SMA to emergency room staff if you do need to seek medical care. This is how most people who are arrested for SMA are reported. Healthcare providers are almost always who calls the police in cases of SMA criminalization. Contrary to popular belief, HIPAA does not protect your private health information from being shared with police if you are suspected of doing something that could be considered a crime. If you believe you need to seek urgent medical care, do not hesitate to go. Say “I think I’m having a miscarriage” and provide your symptoms. Do not mention any use of or purchase of abortion pills. There is no widely available test to detect misoprostol in your bloodstream. If you do not disclose it, there is no way for a medical provider to tell the difference between a medication abortion and a spontaneous miscarriage.
Do not talk to the cops. Period. Do. Not. Talk. To. The. Cops. If you are questioned by police you should state, “I am exercising my right to remain silent, and I wish to speak with an attorney.” Do not speak again or nod in response to a question. Contact the Repro Legal Helpline as soon as possible for expert legal advice: 1-844-868-2812. Do not agree to questioning or speak to any law enforcement official without a lawyer present.
Finally before you leave this page please join in with this invocation of Hecate, ancient Greek Goddess of witchcraft, to end patriarchy:
Three faced Hekate, come to me beloved mistress. Graciously hear my sacred spells: image of night, youthful one, dawn-born lightbringer to mortals, who rides upon fierce eyed bulls. O Queen, you who drive your chariot on equal course with Helios, you dance with the triple forms of the triple Graces as you revel with the stars. You are Justice and the Thread of the Fates, Clotho Lachesis Atropos, O Three Headed one, you are Persephone Megaira and Allecto. O one of many shapes who arm your hands with terrible dark-glowing lamps, who shakes locks of fearsome serpents at your brow, whose mouths send forth the roar of bulls, whose womb is thick with reptile-scales, at whose shoulders are rows of venomous serpents, wound across your back beneath murderous chains. O night bellower, lover of servitude, bull faced and bull headed one, you have the eyes of bulls and the voice of dogs. Your forms are hidden in the legs of lions. Your ankle is wolf-shaped, and savage dogs are friendly to you, wherefore they call You Hekate, many named, Mene, cleaving the air like arrow-shooting Artemis. O Goddess of four faces, four names, four ways, Artemis, Persephone, deer shooter, night shiner, thrice resounding, triple voiced, three headed, thrice named selene, O trident bearing one of three faces, three necks, three ways, who holds undying flame in triple baskets. You frequent the three ways and are mistress of the three Decads. Be gracious unto me who is invoking you and hearken favorably. You are night, darkness, and broad chaos, for you are necessity, hard to escape, you are Fate, you are Erinyes and the torture, you are murderess and justice, you hold Cerberus in chains, you are steely blue with serpent scales, O serpent haired and serpent girdled one, blood drinker, death bringer who breeds corruption, feaster on hearts, flesh eater who devours those who died before their time, grave resounder, driver to the wanderings of madness, come to my sacrifices and fulfill this task for me!
I will pin this post at the top of the blog so it is prominent if anyone comes looking for a witchy abortion. Oh by the way - apart from the advice not to try a DIY abortion, which obviously is health advice, I'm not giving you health advice here and you really should make decisions with a health care provider not me because they'll help with your specific situation. x
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