‘Estaba en muy buenas manos’: Experiences of accompanied abortion after 17 weeks in Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador

Abstract

In Latin America, where abortions later in pregnancy are legally and socially restricted, many individuals turn to the support of feminist accompaniment collectives. These accompaniment collectives provide practical information, access to medications, and emotional and physical support to individuals seeking to self-manage their abortions outside of clinical settings. Little research, however, has examined how people having abortions later in pregnancy experience the emotional and physical support provided by accompaniers. This study draws on 26 in-depth interviews to explore the lived experiences of individuals who received in-person accompaniment support for abortions after 17 weeks of pregnancy in Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. Our findings reveal how participants experienced later accompanied abortion as safe and emotionally supportive, which countered the stigma and violence associated with medical care in the formal health system. Our analysis centers the model of abortion accompaniment as a feminist practice of care that not only reshapes the lived experiences of later abortion, but also presents a radically distinct, and preferable, model of abortion provision. This study demonstrates that accompanied abortions offer a meaningful alternative to accessing safe, supportive abortion care, while offering potential improvements to clinic-supported abortion care.