We are so proud to provide accessible, evidence-based, and free educational materials on abortion, contraception, and early pregnancy loss for patients and clinicians alike. With persistent and ongoing attacks to abortion access, we are working hard to update and provide relevant and person-centered abortion care resources to continue to dismantle stigma, debunk myths, and improve access. So we are thrilled to present our latest resource to the RHAP community – a mini comic book/zine called “Elena’s Aspiration Abortion.”

“Elena’s Aspiration Abortion” follows one person’s experience having a manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) abortion procedure after determining that an abortion was the best decision for themselves and their family. The zine brings to life our evidence-based resources through Elena’s story. We depict abortion options counseling, walk through the steps of an abortion procedure with consent and respect, offer what to expect after the procedure, and illustrate the possibility of early abortion care in primary care – with the same clinician who provides one’s usual health care.

Some may be unaware or misinformed about what an early abortion procedure entails. We hope this zine can convey that MVA is not only a safe, person-centered option, but that it is also possible to provide in a primary care setting. We hope by telling Elena’s story, we can combat the reproductive stigma that is so pervasive and harmful in our society.

We also recognize that providing abortion care in primary care is not a reality for all communities in our current climate, due to the onslaught of unjust, harmful, and medically-unnecessary abortion bans that disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, people striving to make end meet, those living in rural areas, and many others. For us, “Elena’s Aspiration Abortion” illustrates just one of the many different options for person-centered abortion care access that we are fighting to realize.

We invite you to read through the zine, print it out, share it around, and post it on social media (and tag @RHAP1/@reproductiveaccess so we can be part of the conversation!). We’d love to hear your thoughts about our newest resource, and how you plan to use Elena’s Aspiration Abortion. Contact us to share your thoughts and reactions at info@reproductiveaccess.org. And, we’d like to give a special THANK YOU to Ghazal Qadri, the incredible artist who brought our vision to life!

By: Silpa Srinivasulu (she/her), Director of Programs and Evaluation