around, and so, the clinic had collective control over the workplace and had no outside board of directors or separate management structure. Downer wanted to ensure the most comfortable and supportive environment possible - different from the bare environment at typical medical facilities run mainly by men. The environment in the clinic itself had decorations on the walls, colorful rugs and plants, providing a relaxed atmosphere, with comfortable chairs arranged in a circle to facilitate conversations. On the ceiling above the examination table, there was a picture of a pretty landscape to help create a calming atmosphere for the women during procedures. Downer and Rothman wanted to avoid the layout of traditional abortion clinics where the patient followed a standardized route into and through the clinic. Instead, patients sat at different stations with one another, giving them the opportunity to talk to each other. In addition, each woman was accompanied throughout her visit by a lay counselor so they were never alone. After the procedure, women returned to the waiting room so others could see that she was fine. This created a loop of peer support among patients during their time at the clinic, encouraging women to ask questions, see how other women were doing, and support one another. Services Self-Help Clinic One and other feminist women's health centers like it, offered a variety of reproductive health services. Within two weeks of the Roe v. Wade decision, the Women's Choice Clinic opened and they began offering abortions. Doctors could perform therapeutic abortions up to ten weeks after conception. The staff counseled the women before and after the abortion, and accompanied them into the procedure room to help walk them through the process and to offer emotional support. In addition to this, clinics offered free pregnancy screening, information on birth control, and education about how to properly use birth control methods. Due to the extreme legal vulnerability of abortion access, the staff were careful to follow the letter of the law. Abortion procedures were always done by medical doctors accompanied by two laywomen counselor/health workers. Clinics also provided "well-woman" gynecology care and education, where women learned how to perform vaginal self-examinations and/or other basic gynecological self-help procedures in a group or one-on-one setting. Although clinic workers had varying levels of formal medical education, and some were entirely clinic trained, all exams and tests were supervised by a staff doctor. This allowed