Cythia Nixon Has Spoken Out About Her Mother’s Illegal Abortion

Cythia nixton

by Jazmin Kopotsha |
Published on

Actress and New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon made a powerful speech about her mother's illegal abortion. As she spoke at a rally on Tuesday, she held up a coat hanger in harrowing reference to the story and it's an image that'll likely stay with the many people who were there to listen to her speak.

The rally took place the day after Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee for Supreme Court. Given Kavanaugh's past voting record, the move poses a threat to the landmark 1973 decision to legalise abortion in the United States, and so Americans gathered to protest Trumps choice and stand up for the importance of reproductive rights.

Against the backdrop of Pro Choice signs and 'Unite 4 Women's Rights' placards, Nixon told the crowds that her mother had an illegal abortion pre-1973 and that 'We must never, ever, ever, go back to a time when any woman feels she has to make this kind of a choice,' reports the New York Times. 'And this is why we must fight.'

It's not the first time that Nixon has spoken about her mother's experience but sadly, its a story that's important to be re-told at a time when the right to abortion is potentially in jeopardy.

Back in 2016 she wrote a piece for Time magazine titled 'Abortion Rights Are Human Rights'. In it she explained: 'Over 50 years ago, my mother had an abortion. She was a working woman in New York City with an office job for Goodson and Todman, the TV game show producers who created everything from_What’s My Line?to_Family Feud. She never was willing to tell me any details about her abortion, except to let me know that she had one and it was awful and scary.'

She later shared an image of herself at the rally on Twitter to re-reference her speech and the sad significance of the coat hanger. 'A wire hanger is something that women in this country were driven to use out of fear and desperation, performing abortions on themselves, often with devastating effects', she wrote.

Nixon reiterated: 'We must never go back to a time when any women feels that she has to make this kind of choice'.

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