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medicine.” Starting in 2017, Mitchell volunteered and trained through Planned Parenthood as an abortion doula (someone who provides support to those seeking or undergoing an abortion). At the time, Ohio was making headlines for its “heartbeat bill,” one of the most restrictive in the U.S., which would have banned abortions as early as six weeks gestation. Though Ohio’s legislature passed the bill in 2019, it was blocked by a federal judge and never went into effect. Still, a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that about 26% of women in Ohio were unsure about the legality of abortion after the bill was passed — and then blocked. Another 10% thought abortion was outright illegal. According to the study, already disenfranchised groups were more likely to believe this, adding to the existing systemic barriers standing in the way of accessibility to proper women’s health care. While volunteering with Planned Parenthood, Mitchell says she saw “the stark need for empathetic care within the medical paradigm.” But An example of a Moonbow Medicinals Moonbox she found herself being P H O T O : E D LY T L E called more toward supporting people at home. She points out that site is a quarter-acre at the Woodhaving an herbal abortion was legal cock Nature Preserve in Athens, Ohio, and commonplace in the United States where she is growing 800 cotton plants for most of the 18th and 19th centuries. alongside flowers, milky oats and clover According to CNN, it wasn’t until 1880 as part of an alley cropping grant from that abortions became criminalized, Rural Action, which aims to develop a move led partly by American male Appalachia’s “assets in environmentally, physicians who sought control over socially and economically sustainable women’s reproductive health and a ways.” She plants her crops between tighter hold on the market, edging out chestnut tree saplings at the preserve. midwives and herbalists. “When I’m out there, I forage for Along with training from Planned yarrow (and roses) in the prairies,” she Parenthood, Mitchell has taken courses says, adding that she tries to use items at Midwest Herb Fest, the Chestnut either grown or foraged in everything School of Herbal Medicine and The she makes. Wander School, as well as other indeHer Moonbox is one piece of her pendent studying. She’s also taken overall mission. Mitchell gestures to courses from Samantha Zipporah, a the items included in the monthly fertility, sex and cycle educator. CSA-style box, sent out to clients just “I met (Zipporah) right when I started before the full moon. Each handcrafted at Planned Parenthood. She was on a item — a cramp salve, blood-building teaching tour around the country with tea, menstrual relief tincture and a a womb sovereignty course,” Mitchell handmade beeswax ritual candle — is says. “I hosted her at my farm. When meant to “nourish, soothe and bring that happened, I described it as a balance to the body during and after gong going off in my chest. Everything menstruation.” changed. I was like, ‘This is what I’m “I remember being so embarrassed supposed to be doing.’” the first time I menstruated because I The herbs Mitchell uses in her pracwasn’t really taught what was haptice are cultivated in multiple locations, pening,” Mitchell says. “It makes me including at her home in Price Hill’s really sad for all the people that have to Enright Urban Ecovillage. Another feel like they have to hide it. I want to
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support people by having these tools that they can honor their cycle with and be a little bit in tune with it.” One moon cycle’s worth — one month of supplies — costs $40, with additional share options available. A one-on-one herbal consultation is $30, and is recommended for “anyone interested in fertility awareness or other issues related to womb-care,” she says. Mitchell is working to roll out additional products, such as reusable gender-neutral menstrual underwear and crescent-moon-shaped womb pouches that can be heated. Regarding the former, she explains that single-use plastics are one of the most detrimental things to our environment, and the majority of menstrual products happen to be full of the stuff. Most products on the market are made for ciswomen; Mitchell’s products will be genderless so that all people with uteruses can feel seen and empowered. In June, Mitchell led a workshop at Wave Pool, a contemporary art fulfillment center in Camp Washington, titled “Witchcare: Plant Medicine & Reproductive Justice.” In the class, she discussed “the history of herbal abortion care, the medicinal properties of common plants, and the intersections
between witchcraft and midwifery,” according to its website. She’s also aiming to start teaching cervical self-examination courses this fall (these classes can be done as a group but Mitchell says she always has a private space for those who wish to do it alone). Mitchell stresses that if individuals find themselves in a dire medical situation, nothing should be done without professional consultation. “Always talk to your physician; talk to an herbalist before you do anything,” she says. “I am an herbalist and this is what I do. But don’t take something you don’t know. It’s dangerous. “But I understand that fear and desperation pushes people to do really dangerous things, so we need more care like this in the world. That’s what I’m trying to do.” Through Moonbow Medicinals, she hopes to support individuals’ rights to make choices for their own bodies. Community care, she says, is radical care. For more on Moonbow Medicinals, visit moonbowmedicinals.com or @moonbowmedicinals on Instagram.
