# Abortion cartoon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420 "2016-07-31T23:25:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/1 "2016-07-31T23:25:34Z")
I recall an abortion cartoon, probably from _Playboy_ in the '70s. It was black-and-white. A small, angry child was confronting an adult, and the child had a coat hanger through its head. I don’t remember the caption, or even if there _was_ a caption. I don’t remember if the adult was the mother or the father, but the mother makes more sense. Does anyone remember that one, and can you clarify my memory? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/2 "2016-07-31T23:34:15Z")
Sounds like it could be a Sam Gross cartoon (signed his comics S. Gross) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/3 "2016-08-01T00:00:21Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Sounds like it could be a Sam Gross cartoon (signed his comics S. Gross) I recall it was his style. It could also have been in _National Lampoon_, and I also may just be remembering in B&W. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/4 "2016-08-01T01:42:32Z")
I remember it. The parent was asking something like “What makes you think you weren’t wanted?”. It was right next to an article I was reading… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/5 "2016-08-01T01:47:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I recall it was his style. > > It could also have been in _National Lampoon_, and I also may just be remembering in B&W. I remember it from NatLamp too. Don’t remember the precise details though. Thought it a bit rude tho not beyond the pale, that much I recall. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/6 "2016-08-01T02:09:57Z")
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for but [this site](https://eatdrinkfilms.com/2015/10/09/critics-corner-national-lampoon/)describes a Sam Gross cartoon thusly… > [@](#): > > a character with a wire hanger inserted in his head – “No, lady,” he explains, “I’m not a Martian, I’m just an unsuccessful abortion.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/7 "2016-08-01T02:26:08Z")
> [@Rain\_Soaked](#): > > I remember it. The parent was asking something like “What makes you think you weren’t wanted?”. That sounds familiar. > [@zoid](#): > > Not sure if this is what you’re looking for but [this site](https://eatdrinkfilms.com/2015/10/09/critics-corner-national-lampoon/)describes a Sam Gross cartoon thusly… > > > [@](#): > > > > a character with a wire hanger inserted in his head – “No, lady,” he explains, “I’m not a Martian, I’m just an unsuccessful abortion.” That also sounds familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/8 "2016-08-01T03:54:29Z")
You sure it was _Playboy_? Cause Playboy cartoons (especially back in the '70s) were usually more highbrow than that. Sounds more like _Hustler_. I don’t remember the one you described, but I remember another showing a guy in doctor scrubs holding a coat hanger with three or four dead fetuses on it in one hand, and holding a telephone in the other saying, “Hello, _Guinness Book_?” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/9 "2016-08-01T17:19:26Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Sounds more like _Hustler_. I didn’t have access to _Hustler_ as an adolescent. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/10 "2016-08-01T18:53:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I didn’t have access to _Hustler_ as an adolescent. I’d have to agree with your earlier post that it was in _The National Lampoon_ I remember seeing it and I had access to _The National Lampoon_, very little access to _Playboy_ and no access to\* Hustler\*. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/11 "2016-08-01T19:14:50Z")
I definitely remember seeing it in National Lampoon, which I had a pile of in high school and college. Sam Gross sounds about right. I was thinking maybe Gahan Wilson, but now I’m pretty sure it was Gross. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/12 "2016-08-02T04:13:48Z")
There was a story going around that the popular state-of-the-art IUD was imperfect birth control because a baby had been born clutching an IUD in his (aww) cute little fist. I suspect this cartoon was a lampoon on that concept, but the child was born not in spite of an IUD, but in spite of an attempt to terminate the pregnancy using the only available method forced upon desperate mothers at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/13 "2016-08-02T04:25:55Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > I’d have to agree with your earlier post that it was in _The National Lampoon_ I remember seeing it and I had access to _The National Lampoon_, very little access to _Playboy_ and no access to\* Hustler\*. Well, I may have it then. I have a .pdf file of all issues of _National Lampoon_. (It may take a while to get through them…) ---
**Author:** ![pseudosagacity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pseudosagacity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudosagacity)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/14 "2023-07-26T13:29:55Z")
I’ve got it, but was looking for the date it was published. Unfortunately, as someone with a new account, I’m alerted I can’t upload the image. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-cartoon/761420/15 "2023-07-26T13:31:13Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope, @pseudosagacity . Actually, nobody here can upload images directly. You have to find some other place online to host it (imgur seems to be the most popular option), and then link it here.