Abortion by coat hanger

You could see them held high in the air from among the crowd of protesters marching outside the U.

The clothing hanger was originally designed to allow people quick access to their clothing as well as designate an area, in their home, to keep their clothing in. It was also used to keep clothing dry or without a wrinkle. There are three basic types of clothes hangers. The first is the wire hanger, which has a simple loop of wire, most often steel , [ citation needed ] in a flattened triangle shape that continues into a hook at the top. The second is the wooden hanger, which consists of a flat piece of wood cut into a boomerang -like shape with the edges sanded down to prevent damage to the clothing, and a hook, usually of metal, protruding from the point. Some wooden hangers have a rounded bar from tip to tip, forming a flattened triangle.

Abortion by coat hanger

We know how scared and desperate a woman needs to be to self-induce an abortion with a household object. So why is this still happening? F or women who lived in the United States before abortion was made legal, there are few images more evocative and distressing than the wire coat hanger. Featured on protest signs for decades, the hanger represents the desperation and horror of a time when, lacking all other options, women took matters into their own hands. A time, it seems, that we are reliving today. This past September in Tennessee, year-old Anna Yocca allegedly got into her bathtub and tried to end her pregnancy using a wire hanger. When the bleeding became out of control, her boyfriend drove her to a nearby hospital. We live in a world, in a country, where women who want to end their pregnancies are considered contemptible. And so Yocca, after her week fetus was delivered, was arrested for first-degree attempted murder. Apparently wanting an abortion is criminal. As if a woman is selfish for not wanting to bleed to death in her bathtub. Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women , points out that this case and others shows that anti-choice rhetoric claiming women will not be punished if Roe is overturned is simply false.

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When abortion is illegal, women and girls with unwanted pregnancies are unable to terminate their pregnancy in healthcare facilities such as abortion clinics and hospitals, and are forced to resort to dangerous methods to end their pregnancy. These dangerous methods include taking poisons, causing deliberate injury to the abdomen, pumping corrosive substances through the vagina, and inserting foreign objects into the uterus through the cervix. The wire coat hanger, because it has a thin metal wire that can be bent and can fit through the cervix, has been used by women who are unable to get a legal abortion to terminate their pregnancy at home. As you can imagine, inserting a sharp object into the uterus is extremely dangerous, and can lead to perforation of the uterus, infections, severe bleeding, and may fail to end the pregnancy after all. However, history has taught us that when abortion is illegal, women and girls with unwanted pregnancies will resort to dangerous methods rather than be forced to give birth against their will. This is why pro-choice activists state that safe, legal abortion protects women's health and lives. When abortion is done legally with safe methods, the risks of injury and death from an abortion are less than those from childbirth.

Wade , which established the constitutional right to abortion in , with five of the six Republican-appointed justices arguing that there was no basis for the constitutional right to abortion. In an article we published earlier this month, we looked at the history of back-alley abortions in the U. A lot has changed since abortion was not legal in the U. You can read more about what we found below. Long a symbol of the dangers faced by people seeking to end pregnancies in the years before Roe v. Wade, coat hangers stand in for a whole inventory of physical horrors, most of which never involved coat hangers, specifically.

Abortion by coat hanger

A self-induced abortion also called a self-managed abortion , or sometimes a self-induced miscarriage is an abortion performed by the pregnant woman herself, or with the help of other, non-medical assistance. Although the term includes abortions induced outside of a clinical setting with legal, sometimes over-the-counter medication , it also refers to efforts to terminate a pregnancy through alternative, potentially more dangerous methods. Self-induced or self-managed abortion is often attempted during the beginning of pregnancy the first eight weeks from the last menstrual period. Women can use many different methods to self-manage or self-induce an abortion. The only scientifically studied effective self-induced abortion method is ingesting a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol or misoprostol alone. First trimester medical abortion is highly safe and effective.

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Next Up In The Latest. Yocca was being prosecuted as if it weren't. Quick Links. And whatever drove Yocca to try to end her pregnancy herself, it probably involved serious desperation if she was willing to take her chances by sticking a sharp metal object into her cervix. But the legal options today, where available, are safe: surgical abortions, more accurately known as aspiration abortions, and medical abortions, which use a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. Advocates say that should help some pregnant people skirt around their states' bans and self-manage their abortions, though some Republican-led states are trying to outlaw the mailing of the pills. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Poor pregnancy outcomes can happen for any number of reasons. What happens when the criminal justice system takes on pregnancy Reproductive rights advocates say it's a terrible idea to charge women like Yocca with anything at all, much less attempted murder. For more newsletters, check out our newsletters page. When women and girls with unwanted pregnancies can access legal abortions, they do not have to resort to dangerous methods at home. Though it may be effective at evoking unease and stoking anger, advocates for reproductive rights and those who provide abortion services say it's time to put the imagery back into the closet. This is why pro-choice activists state that safe, legal abortion protects women's health and lives. The wire coat hanger is seen as a symbol of darker days, when abortion was illegal and the options to terminate an unwanted pregnancy were unsafe — even deadly.

We know how scared and desperate a woman needs to be to self-induce an abortion with a household object. So why is this still happening?

Studies confirmed their prevalence: One, of some 10, working-class women who visited birth-control clinics in the late s, found that 10 to 23 percent had had abortions. The future of the U. By Samantha Cooney. Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women , points out that this case and others shows that anti-choice rhetoric claiming women will not be punished if Roe is overturned is simply false. Sign Up for Worth Your Time. The thought of one more made her "crazy," and she took drugs to bring on her "monthly sickness. A baby generated more laundry. After seeking medical help for heavy bleeding, she gave birth to the baby, who was ultimately placed in foster care and adopted. Used wire hangers may be recycled, or returned to the dry cleaner. Tools Tools. We fixed a date at mutual convenience a couple of days off for the operation. Archived from the original on 1 March The wire coat hanger, because it has a thin metal wire that can be bent and can fit through the cervix, has been used by women who are unable to get a legal abortion to terminate their pregnancy at home. By Kimberly Mas.