this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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A symbol for back-alley abortions. Dangerous, painful, and scary, representing some of the most important reasons why legal abortion is necessary. One assumes the slash through it means "abortion should not be illegal", but I have to admit it's not the clearest symbol in the bunch.
Grandmothers in the United States get it.
It's less that the wire hanger is an unknown icon of the abortion struggle (it isn't), and more that the symbol is presented in an unclear way: does the slash mean "no abortions"? Or "no, abortions!" The thing is, both forced birth advocates and pro choice advocates would hate the wire hanger, just for different reasons.
Risky abortions have been around since time immemorial. The coathanger arose during the 20th century as an alternative to poisoning one's self with pennyroyal or ascorbic acid to induce a miscarriage.
The point of modern abortions is they are safe, and in fact considerably safer than pregnancy. Our anti-abortion community wants to punish women for participating in sex, even when they do not consent, either by suffering through pregnancy or through a risky miscarriage.
And their other policy positions reveal they have no actual interest in the welfare of the child.
So it's a symbol in suppprt of safe and legal abortions? I mean I guess it's better than having a baby crossed out or smth.
lmao true