Project history
2017-18
Our earliest methods centered workshops, kits and gardens. The original kit contained readings and resources that addressed issues of Power, Biology, and Mythology as well as seeds for plants that are used to manage reproductive health. We encouraged women to plant the seeds and create gardens as symbols of their journey to reproductive autonomy. This page contains a record of our beginnings.
WITH WOMAN WORKSHOP
midwife (n.) c. 1300, "woman assisting," literally "woman who is 'with' " (the mother at birth), from Middle English mid "with" + wif "woman"
At School of the Apocalypse
Labor Day Weekend Retreat Liberty, NY 2017
As part of a weekend retreat based on connections between creative practice and notions of survival, we ran a hands-on workshop, distributed kits to participants, and planted a garden together.
ob/gdn plants (gdn=garden)2017
at a.I.R. Gallery Brooklyn, NY 2018
in “Currents: Abortion” curated by Barbara Zucker
As part of a group show, we shared plants, tinctures, dried herbs, books, and modern devices for inducing abortion and managing fertility. The contents of our kits were on display, and actual kits were available to gallery-goers free of charge. We also presented a workshop, which brought together a lawyer, herbalist, and doctor to share their knowledge around reproductive self-determination.
Public Programs:
January 7, 2-5 PM: With Women Workshop: Abortion and Reproductive Self Determination, presented by Maureen Connor and Eugenia Manwelyan.
We will plant an Abortion Garden, comprised of plants with abortifacient and fertility management potential, and bring together an herbalist, a gynecologist and a reproductive rights lawyer to explore issues of power, biology, and mythology so as to better understand and take charge of our reproductive powers. (view/download pdf)
race and reproductive self determination
with mister welfare podcast new york, NY 2018
Episode 22, April 5 2018
Conversation with host Mr. Gandy and Sherry Bronfman about race, culture, and reproductive self-determination.
WITH WOMAN WORKSHOP
midwife (n.) c. 1300, "woman assisting," literally "woman who is 'with' " (the mother at birth), from Middle English mid "with" + wif "woman"
at Antenna Works Spillway Residency New Orleans, LA 2018
In collaboration with community-based organizations and arts institutions, we are discussed creating a gardens and organizing a series of accompanying workshops at a number of different sites in New Orleans.
Workshops
How do women throughout the world, and throughout history, manage their health before, during, and after childbearing years? Who has the power to choose motherhood, whether for themselves or for others? What are the benefits, risks, and costs of different abortion and contraception methods? We partner with individuals and institutions interested in convening a group of women to address these questions. Throughout this convening, we address issues of Power, Biology, and Mythology so as to gain essential knowledge about reproductive health at all stages in a woman's life, and connect with the community of women who are seeking greater agency over their reproductive powers. We begin with the understanding that while laws, customs, ethics, and techniques vary throughout the world, abortion and contraception are constant concerns – one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Each workshop features local women’s health experts including an herbalist, a gynecologist, a lawyer and a midwife alongside project producer-facilitators, Maureen Connor and Eugenia Manwelyan. Hands-on workshops are presented using the oral and empirical traditions through which much of this knowledge was developed and transmitted over time.
GARDENS
The plants, medicines, and methods used to induce abortions have varied tremendously over our 200,000 history as a species. People have always used what is available to them; techniques developed within and alongside ecological and cultural conditions. Comprised of plants with contraceptive and abortifacient potential, our gardens differ from one region to another depending on existing knowledge, climate, and local culture. They can be cultivated in a great variety of sites, from farms to fire escapes and can be planted anywhere in the world. We have found that when we grow our understanding of how these plants behave and interact with and within the ecosystem, we gain insight into how the plants may interact with our bodies. Both as symbol and through function, the primary intention of our gardens is to assert that no power structure can fully prevent women from preventing or ending an unwanted pregnancy. Policies and beliefs about fertility, abortion and contraception change over time, but women continue to prevent and terminate their pregnancies. In todays political climate, and as always, women need knowledge about existing methods and the means to access them. By gathering women to rekindle the bonds that form around fertility, cultivation, and healing, the project contributes to healthier social conditions in which to bear and raise children. Through facilitating the planting and tending of our gardens, we aim to disseminate this lost knowledge of plant-based fertility management as well as modern contraception and abortion techniques in locations around the globe.
KITS
The kits contains seeds for plants that are used to manage fertility, and selected as suitable for the culture and climate of the region. Some plants included in the kit are considered “wild” / “weeds” / “invasive” so we urge thoughtful planting and deep consideration about how the plants will interact with their environment and the other plants around them. The kits also contain readings, resources, and additional information to encourage women along on the journey to self-determination through reproductive autonomy. The contents of the kits vary from one region to another and are developed in collaboration with local herbalists, activists, lawyers, midwives and doctors.
books
view / download pdf
