Name/TitleBadge: Clothes hanger symbol
About this objectSmall round pin badge featuring the universal red 'no entry' sign against an orange background, overlaid with a clothes hanger motif and '321'. The donor notes: "I've been on so many anti-anti-abortion marches that I can't remember where or when I got this badge. Early to mid-1970s, probably either Green Bay or Appleton, Wisconsin. Maggi Cage, a close friend of mine at the time, was director of Fox Valley Reproductive Health Care Centre near Appleton, which was threated on a regular basis and sometimes firebombed by anti-choice groups."
MakerUnion Shop
Date Madec.1971-75
Period1970s
Place MadeUSA
Medium and MaterialsInorganic, metal and plastic
Inscription and MarksReverse, embossed: "UNION SHOP ~ [??] AFL-CIO"
MeasurementsDia: 25 mm
Subject and Association Keywordsabortion rights - pro-choice
Subject and Association KeywordsWomen's healthcare
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://dcabortionfund.org/2014/03/statement-from-val-vilott-president-of-the-dc-abortion-fund:
Why is the coat hanger a symbol of the reproductive rights movement? Because lack of access to abortion causes women to go to desperate lengths to terminate a pregnancy, similar to those undertaken in the pre-Roe v Wade era. At that time, consuming Lysol and household poisons was not uncommon to instigate abortion. Nor was inserting knitting needles, Coke bottles, and – yes – wire coat hangers into their cervices. It might make you cringe to imagine just how desperate one must be to go to these lengths. But here at DCAF, I don’t have to imagine. We hear from women every day who are that desperate, with no one else to turn to. With our help, they access quality, safe abortion care – no wire coat hangers needed. The coat hanger is a reminder of patient’s suffering when abortion is placed out of reach. It is a promise from reproductive rights advocates to never go back to the grotesque world our anti-choice opponents are striving for: a world WITHOUT safe access to abortion, where people might have to resort to horrific alternatives like a coat hanger. That’s why our supporters love the pendants and wear them as a point of pride.
Object TypeBadge
Object numberGWL-2023-20-4
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved