Webster’s definition of a Doula is, “a person trained to provide advice, information, emotional support, and physical comfort to a mother before, during, and just after childbirth.”

However, as with other terms, those opposed to a baby’s right-to-life have bastardized “doula” to include support coaches for abortions. And, as one would expect, Planned Parenthood (an oxymoronic term itself) is in the center of the effort. Ironically, even though more and more of these procedures are taking place in the home rather than a clinic, the “abortion doula” is currently available only to in-patient terminations.

Quoting from a Planned Parenthood article in 2023, “Doula care is now available for all people seeking an in-center abortion thanks to a new program launched in July … that further elevates the patient experience at Planned Parenthood …. Typically, when someone hears of a doula, they think of birthing, and that’s absolutely one of the biggest use cases. But there’s also been a movement the past several years around full-spectrum doulas, and so you’ll see folks providing this service not only during the birthing process, but during pregnancy loss and during abortion care.”

Government Support

In March of 2025, H.R. 2469 was introduced by Congress to “direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to evaluate the benefits of abortion doula care and coverage.” The government’s definition of an abortion doula is to provide “emotional, social, informational, and physical support by non-clinical, trained professionals (commonly known as “abortion doulas”) to individuals before, during, and after medication and procedural abortions, including such provision of practical support, patient navigation support, patient advocacy, and post-abortion care.”

At Home Abortion Doula Care

The logical next step in the “Abortion Doula” care would be in the home since the majority of baby terminations are now chemical, rather than surgically based. The first shot of mifepristone is provided in the abortion clinics but the remainder of the process (which typically takes 2 weeks and is “99% effective“) is out-patient in the privacy, and resulting trauma, at home. A new study (April 2025), the “first-of-its-kind,” was recently published by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) revealing that “serious adverse events from mifepristone are approximately 22 times more frequent than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently recognizes.” The study shows that in mifepristone abortions, nearly 11% of women “experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event.” In contrast, the FDA has reported over ten clinical trials in which “less than 0.5% have reported severe adverse reactions.” Of course, the obvious difference is the newer study was proactive in surveying women while the FDA studies were reactive based on reported issues. Hence the need for “Abortion Doula” care, often hidden behind the curtain of private suffering within a home-based setting.

The Statistics

The National Center for Health Statistics indicates that abortions hold the second position (after heart disease) in American mortalities (details here). In 2024, there were an estimated 73 million abortions performed globally (862k in the U.S.) which represented 29% of all pregnancies, with mifepristone and misoprostol accounting for 58% of all abortions (details here). In May of 2025, the National Right-to-Life resource center released their annual report on the state of Abortions in America. The following are highlights from that report:

A large majority of U.S. abortions are now “chemical abortions” (which means the use of mifepristone mentioned above).

It is estimated that the Hyde Amendment has saved over 2.5 million lives since it was established.

Five states since the Dobbs decision have enacted laws to protect the unborn once a heartbeat has been established.

Conclusion

The controversy over abortions is an example of the complexity of living in a gray world of conditional morality where we are forced to make decisions based on the lesser-of-evils. According to a study done by VeryWellHealth, the three primary expressed reasons for a pregnant woman to choose abortion as an option are (1) not financially prepared, (2) not a good time, (3) issues with partner. Of course, there are many instances where the life of the mother must be taken into account as well, however, these three top reasons speak more to an inconvenience.

The Lord sees human life as precious and not something to be terminated as an inconvenience. The life growing inside a woman is a gift to humanity from God, and not something she, her doctor, or her partner can or should have the right to make arbitrary decisions over, based on it being an annoyance. However, in the case of “Abortion Doulas,” given the trauma that results in making these decisions that run counter to God’s will, there is a clear need for an emotional, medical and spiritual support structure as women experience the private destruction of a life.

Psalm 139:13-16 – For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.