Bill McKibben is the founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and democracy. In the latest issue (subscription required) of Rolling Stone he wonders “Will a Silver Wave Help Elect Kamala Harris?”

“Eighty-six percent of older Americans think abortion should be legal at least under certain circumstances — in part because we’re old enough to remember coat hangers.”

I immediately got the reference but started wondering if younger folks do not remember the wire coat hanger. Are they all plastic these days? (Yes, I stopped going to the dry cleaners when I retired) ChatGPT provides some history:

“Coathanger abortions” refer to unsafe, illegal abortions that were sometimes performed before the legalization of abortion in many countries, including the United States prior to the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. The term “coathanger” comes from the dangerous and crude methods used to terminate pregnancies when legal options were unavailable, with some women resorting to using a bent wire coat hanger or other sharp objects to self-induce an abortion. These methods were often life-threatening and could result in severe injury, infection, infertility, or death.

Before the legalization of abortion, women with unwanted pregnancies had limited options. Wealthier women might have been able to find a sympathetic doctor willing to perform the procedure safely in secret, or travel to a place where abortion was legal. However, many women, especially those who were poor or marginalized, could not access these options. As a result, some turned to unqualified practitioners or attempted to perform abortions themselves using hazardous means, such as ingesting toxic substances, or, as the term suggests, using objects like coathangers.

The imagery of the coathanger has since become a symbol in the abortion rights movement, representing the danger and desperation of women when safe and legal abortion is not available. It underscores the argument that when abortion is illegal or inaccessible, it does not stop abortions from occurring; rather, it pushes them into unsafe and unregulated conditions.