Holly Ballard of the Colorado Doula Project (CDP) weighs in on the organization’s exponential growth, the new pipeline of patients from Texas (and other states), and this month’s ballot initiative to codify the right to an abortion in Colorado’s constitution.

Read More: Your Guide to the 14 Questions on Colorado’s Ballot

5280 November 2024
More From The Issue

Editor’s note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

5280: You not only became the development director of the CDP in 2023, but you also became one of its first full-time employees. How did it exist for nearly 10 years without a staff?
Holly Ballard: CDP started in 2015 as a small group of concerned citizens, and it was an all-volunteer operation for a long time. The organization offered both birth and abortion doulas in the beginning. But the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, was the breaking point. We had to grow to meet demand, including hiring three full-time staffers and switching our focus to abortion care.

Where did that demand come from?
In 2021, we worked with roughly 100 clients. This year, our 100 volunteers will likely serve about 1,200 people. In the first half of 2024, we’ve seen clients from 28 states. The largest percentage of them are from Colorado—about 52 percent so far this year. Last year and this year, the second-largest percentage was from Texas, which is not unexpected considering the laws there and the need. One result of Dobbs is that people are more aware of abortion funds and practical support organizations like us, and people needing abortions in protected states are more likely to seek help in their home state.

Read More: The Sense & Sensibility of Being an Abortion Haven

This month, voters will decide if the right to abortion care will become part of the state constitution—does CDP get involved in such matters?
This is the first election cycle where we’ve had enough full-time staffers to start asking ourselves how and if we want to be involved. We partner with organizations that are heavily engaged in politics, and we work to support them. But our focus is on our clients and individualistic care. We’re not neutral; we support legislation and initiatives that protect access to care, but we aren’t an advocacy group.

What exactly does an abortion doula do?
Our trained volunteers pick people up from the airport, drive them to appointments, bring them food, sit with them in waiting rooms, hold their hands, provide short-term childcare, and even take them for ice cream as a pick-me-up. Everyone’s needs are different, and our intake team asks what each person needs the most. If someone requires assistance beyond what a doula can provide—like help paying for a hotel room or help finding a health care provider or help paying for abortion care—our staffers try to meet those needs.

Can anyone become a CDP volunteer?
To become an abortion doula, volunteers must complete our online training, which is self-paced and usually takes between 10 and 20 hours. But I wouldn’t say anyone can be a doula: Our volunteers must be committed to reproductive justice, equality, anti-discrimination, and anti-racism. They must also have empathy and compassion. If they have all these things, the training will help channel those beliefs into how to do this work well.

Now that CDP has grown up from its grassroots beginnings, what’s next?
We are piloting a program to support people with self-managed abortion, which happens at home with medication. This support would be via phone and text, and the goal is to provide virtual care to Coloradans and people across the country. That would extend our volunteers’ reach and help people—especially those who don’t have a support network or who need secrecy for what can be a variety of reasons—navigate what is the most common form of abortion in the country.