Among a crowd of protesters marching outside the U.S. Supreme Court after the majority of conservative judges ruled that Roe v. Wade and constitutional rights were overturned. I could see them floating in the air. Abortion last month. Nationwide, they were sometimes shaken with hands painted red like blood. They were carried and adorned with a message of : "Not approved for medical use" or simply "never again".
Abortion is illegal and options for ending unwanted pregnancies are unsafe — even fatal, wire coat hangers are dark It is considered a symbol of the day.
May be effective in arousing anxiety and arousing anger, but those who defend reproductive rights and provide abortion services say it's time to put the images back in the closet. say.
"Postlow America doesn't look like Prelo America," said Dr. Deshawn Taylor, a gynecologist who owns the Desert Star Families Planning Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
Her clinic stopped offering abortion on June 24, shortly after the Supreme Court ruling. Like the other , Taylor is waiting forwhere state law takes precedence. This can affect the care she can provide.
But there is one thing that is clear. That is, the so-called hanger abortion has not revived.
A symbol of the dangerous past — Not the future
"The idea that the band of our population harms ourselves with musical instruments The idea of pregnancy The device for abortion does not accurately reflect the current situation, "says Taylor.
"This hanger image is more than useful, especially for experienced people, loved ones, and those with family history and stories who suffered in the pre-abortion era. It's harmful, "she said.
Watch | Dr. DeShawn Taylor describes the unintended harm of hanger images as follows:
The image of the hanger is "rude" and is not an exact symbol of abortion care today, doctors say
The "graphic simplicity" of the image makes it a very prominent and effective symbol of the Abortion-Rights movement, according to a registered nurse in Halifax. One Martha Painter explained. He works in abortion and assisted reproductive technology and is the founder and director of Wellness With Inn, an organization of health and justice.
"[It] without legal, clinical, hospital-based abortion ... People take problems with their own hands and [insert] sharp and penetrating objects through the cervix Refers to this idea of using a variety of methods, including that, "she said.
Before abortion was legalized, such dangerous — and desperate — measures were uterine perforation, bleeding, sepsis. , And sometimes brought death .
But today's legal options are safe, if available. Surgical abortion (more accurately known as aspiration abortion) and medical abortion using a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.
The power of pills
Especially medical abortion has changed the situation. According to Paynter, you can manage yourself at home without having to go to the clinic. Two tablets regimens that can be prescribed via telemedicine in some jurisdictions — — Approved for use in pregnancies up to 10 weeks, { According to 64} almost{71, 90% of all abortions in the United States
tablets are currently more than half of all abortions in the United States. Used } Guttmacher InstituteAnd as at the end of last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed medicines to be distributed by mail. ..
Proponents say some Republican-led states are trying to outlaw the mailing of by , but some pregnant people are banning the state. Tablets
At the same time, US numbers According to the Guttmacher Institute, fewer clinics have abortions. This figure is located at about 800 from the peak of over 2,000 locations in the early 1990s.
That's why fertility activists need to "drop hangers and pick up tablets" — give people better information safe Renee Bracey Sherman, Founder and Executive Director of WeTestify, a Washington-based organization specializing in the leadership and representation of aborted people.
Court Hanger not only represented a "lack of information" about safe options, but also said that it was "in the hands" of the anti-abortion movement.
"They want people to think that their only option is dirty hangers," she said. "So something radical, the fight against fire is a pill."
Fighting the "powerful" images of the anti-abortion movement
Pill photo May be better in terms of public health information , but anti-abortion movements often for "strong" attention-grabbing images, specializing in reproductive rights, books. Said Carol Sanger, a law professor at Columbia University, who is the author of the book.About abortion: The end of pregnancy in the 21st century.
The visual weapon chosen on that side: the fetus.
Sanger stated that the invention of and the widespread use of ultrasound actually changed abortion politics.
"It takes images from unwanted pregnancies where people want to go to the first [or] fifth ultrasound, undesired pregnancies Deploy it to women who are doing it. "
There is also a more graphic image that claims to show an aborted fetus, and the anti-abortion group is known. increase. Use in unsolicited leaflets mailed to people's homes and distribute even.
"Images are often used to actually initiate the conversion of young people and draw them into this radical movement," she said. "This inflamed rhetoric and flatout lie is about what the image depicts, which is a very aggressive and compulsory operation."
Bracey Sherman's In some cases, the placard and sign have a fetus on it, which is another highlight. In most cases, is white.
The anti-abortion movement itself is "overwhelmingly white," she said. colour. "
Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) data shows that black and Hispanic peopleaccount for 59 percent of those who had an abortion in 2020. (St. and 21 percent per 38, respectively), 33 percent were white.
"Blacks and browns are often uninsured and prenatal care Not available. [In the United States] There are some of the worst abortion rates in the world, especially for blacks and browns. "Bracey Sherman said.
Following the ruling, Bracelety Sherman screamed racial acronyms to her and other supporters by some of the anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court. The color choice demonstrator. Ironically, she wrote the image of the heart surrounding a pregnant black woman and the message "I love both" some of the same people. He said he had a sign .
"I'm a black woman you think you love ... yet they treat us with such contempt and contempt," she said.
Bracey Sherman counters this by proudly wearing a T-shirt with the words "I have an abortion of " when she was 19 years old. She said.She calls "best health". She said she felt she was listening to her then, she has ever received. She was in a toxic relationship at the time, she said, and she knew she didn't want to get pregnant.
Time to throw away other outdated messages, supporters say
Eventually, being open about the experience and sharing information about safe options for abortion is a hanger More powerful than shaking, Bracey Sherman.
That's why she wants to see another slogan struck from her discourse on reproductive rights.
"I am passionate and hate the phrase" safe, legal and unusual, "she said, stigmatizing the aborted person, . Quite common.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 18% of pregnancies ended with an abortion in 2017.
Taylor also said that the term "miscarriage in the back alley" is "fingernail blackboard." It not only provokes fear, but also done by midwives, doctors, and others Reduces work, sometimes endangers the livelihood of , and helps "provide people with the coveted abortion care." It was hopeless, "said before the Roe v. Wade incident.
"I come from the inspiration of those who have seen abortion as a very compassionate thing," she said. "Despite the risks to their freedom, you know."
Hear | Investigate the killing of a doctor in New York for an abortion Yes: Abortion protection laws are being attacked in the United States, so access to abortion is urgently needed. Members Amanda Rob and David investigate the murder of an uncle, a US abortion donor, and the consequent conviction of a fanatic sniper. Both discover that this murder may actually be the end of a series of doctor shootings that began in Canada.
