The NYT today published a short, but impactful essay written by a gynecologist who treated women before the Roe v. Wade decision, when it was a dangerous game getting (or giving yourself) an abortion for most.
The familiar symbol of illegal abortion is the infamous “coat hanger” —
which may be the symbol, but is in no way a myth. In my years in New
York, several women arrived with a hanger still in place. Whoever put
it in — perhaps the patient herself — found it trapped in the cervix
and could not remove it.
However, not simply coat hangers were used.
Almost any
implement you can imagine had been and was used to start an abortion —
darning needles, crochet hooks, cut-glass salt shakers, soda bottles,
sometimes intact, sometimes with the top broken off.
Are we ready and willing to go back to the 1950's? Is this what we want for a 21st century society?