A knitting needle. A laundry pin. A coat hanger.
In 2012, these objects are ordinary.
But before 1973, the year that abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, even the coat hanger was a symbol of illegal abortion.
On Monday Feb. 27, the AU Students for Choice screened “The Coat Hanger Project,” a documentary by feminist filmmaker Angie Young. The documentary is a brief history of abortion and the reproductive justice movement in the years before Roe v. Wade.
The title of the film is a reference to the use of coat hangers in illegal, “do-it-yourself” abortions that often led to the deaths of the women involved. These women attempted to terminate their pregnancies by piercing their membranes with a coat hanger or other sharp object, inducing labor.
The film touts statistics: Currently between 60,000 and 80,000 women die annually due to complications from illegal abortions according the film and website. Since the legalization of abortion, less than 1% of all legal abortions in the United States have complications.
The film features interviews with medical professionals, pro-abortion rights activists, students and professors. Founders of pro-abortion rights organizations speak about their experiences as both activists and women. Students in the film discuss their generation’s role in the pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion movements.
The documentary also depicts the protests and counter-protests that occur outside of clinics that perform abortions. Members of the AU Students for Choice had first-hand experience with anti- protesters when they counter-protested the March for Life, an annual march from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in support of the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
After the film, AU Students for Choice executive board members answered questions about the film and shared their personal experiences as pro-abortion rights advocates.
Tea Sefer, a junior in the School of International Service and College of Arts and Sciences, is on the AU Students for Choice e-board. Sefer explained that AU Students for Choice wanted to show the film to increase awareness about abortion as it existed before Roe v. Wade.
“I think there are a lot of misconceptions about abortion, and we thought it would very powerful for students to see the history of abortion, especially as the debate has gotten more polarized,” Sefer said. “We wanted to get people thinking.”
The film, which is very graphic at times, certainly does that. Its intense nature kept viewers lingering afterwards to discuss the implications of the film’s message.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
