Feminist care in the centre: abortion accompaniment practices in Northern Mexico

This study examined how abortion acompañantes - feminist activists who support self-managed medication abortions outside clinical settings - in northern Mexico enact a feminist ethics of care. Through 13 in-depth interviews with feminist activists in the states of Baja California and Chihuahua, we explored how acompañantes seek to redefine abortion care by centring the needs, emotions and contexts of the people they support. Findings show that they conceptualise feminist care as holistic, horizontal, situated and political. In practice, this includes centring abortion seekers needs; placing feelings at the centre of care; ensuring safety by providing stigma-free information; collaboration with health professionals, while ensuring there is no coercion; and economic support. Drawing on Gilligan's and Brugère's work on a feminist ethics of care, we describe how acompañantes challenge patriarchal paradigms through the use of person-centred models of care. These practices subvert medical and state control, offering an alternative paradigm rooted in social solidarity. The study contributes to the growing literature on feminist abortion accompaniment by demonstrating how care functions as both a form of resistance and a means of political transformation, while also shaping new understandings of safety and quality.