Watch: Volunteer acompañantes in Mexico aid at-home abortions. Their network is expanding to Texas.

The Texas Tribune’s reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Para ver esta nota en español haz clic aquí.

For years, volunteer networks have helped thousands of people across Mexico access abortion outside the formal medical establishment, usually at home, by providing medication.

Acompañamiento, which translates to “accompaniment,” refers to a broad support system created by women looking to help one another manage their own abortions.

Network volunteers known as acompañantes distribute pills, give instructions on how to take them and offer medical guidance informed by doctors. They counsel individuals through a series of phone calls, video chats or texts. Sometimes they even offer up their own homes as temporary lodging.

Now that abortion access is limited in Texas and other states after the constitutional right to abortion was revoked, the Mexican network model is moving into the United States.

Alexa Ura contributed to this report.

---

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, including the inside track on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and higher ed at this stage in the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband access matters, the legacy of slavery, what really happened in Uvalde and so much more. See the program.