This last week, a lot of the western world seemed to implode as they heard the news that had been expected for a while; the majority conservative Supreme Court in the US had overturned the 50 year old ruling known as Roe v. Wade, enabling a constitutional right to abortion.

Sometimes events in world, country or cultural history are so momentous, it is as if everyone is focused in on it.

As a political cartoon blogger, and deeply affected by the ruling, I found I wanted to collate as many of the cartoons drawn on the subject as possible. Satire and this art form make commentary beautiful in their face-value simplicity, yet their message is usually subtly complex.

I feel I could personally write reams on this subject, but instead I wanted to highlight the beautiful commentary here instead. However, I have added some analysis as I’ve found it impossible not to comment on what is an extremely dark time for my sex.

Coco, the pen-name of Corinne Rey, cartoonist at Charlie Hebdo and Libération, drew this cartoon which had a global impact, being shared on social media and held up at protests. It is probably the most shocking of the cartoons I’ve come across to date, but its simplicity and stark message is why people are using it to illustrate their own pain at the Roe v Wade decision.

Simply put, women will die as a result of the decision. The coat hanger, the symbol of backstreet abortions, makes up the stars of the US flag, whilst women, bleeding from their uteruses, make up the stripes.

Glen Le Lievre’s cartoon also references the Stars and Stripes of the US flag, but in another common theme of the narrative on Roe’s overturning, also references The Handmaid’s Tale. For a number of years as Margaret Atwood’s seminal work gained a new following as the TV show of the same name grew in popularity, it seemed that her book had prophetic qualities in Trump’s America. (As I write the date for each of these cartoons in the captions I can’t help but muse that the date of the ruling is June and the name of the main character of the handmaid’s tale is June. It’s almost as if the Supreme Court judges wanted to send a sign…)

The stars in this cartoon are crosses for the women who will inevitably die, and the stripes are made up of handmaids in their striking red and white uniform. In a cross-over of culture, this image of a handmaid is now used ubiquitously in protest and as a sign of women’s oppression, as we shall see in further cartoons.

This devastating image by Morten Morland shows the Supreme Court judges tearing down lady liberty with their gavels and turning her into a handmaid under a foreboding sky which shadows very dark times. I actually can’t look at this cartoon without feeling tearful. It says so much, so simply.

Wolterink also uses the handmaid’s distinctive uniform to make his point. 51 years ago as the ruling was first enshrined, women were protesting for the right to an abortion. The woman in 1971 uses a loud-hailer in her protest, whilst the woman in 2022 is wearing the cone, oppressed into service by the state, no longer having control over her own body.

Next up are two cartoons referencing the coat hanger, Nicola Jennings adds one over the Supreme Court in place of its usual roof, whilst below, Clay Bennett refashions one into the shape of the Republican Party’s emblem, the elephant.

The next two cartoons make a clear comment on the hypocrisy of America’s right wing. Recently there have been two horrific instances of gun attacks, one in a community hub shopping centre in Buffalo, New York and the other in a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, causing a serious outcry for restrictions on guns not seen in many years. These two artists point out the idiocy of being pro life when the same people are pro gun. Many viral tweets on the subject echo the sentiment: “ I long for the day when my uterus has as many rights as a gun”.

Next, this cartoon has been shared once again: a long standing comment piece about how little the state actually cares about its citizens once they are born. It goes without saying that the Supreme Court judgement didn’t also include provisions for free healthcare for mothers or births; no additional maternity rights or financial support for families forced to bring a child into the world they might not be able to afford.

The free market requires the population to grow and be kept poor and in its place. This control over a woman’s body ensures a steady stream of future consumers and is as much about capitalism as it is about tyranny. Coincidentally, this week a number of articles have appeared on the decreasing birth rates in the western world and how we can look after our ageing populations.

A number of cartoons have made reference to Lady Liberty being constrained, and here we see her comforting Lady Justice. Again, a very simple message, that the legal system has failed democracy, but I wonder if actually the two should be reversed, with Justice comforting Liberty. It is the failure of law that will mean women’s liberties are lost after all.

Harry Burton’s use of one of America’s most well known paintings, the American Gothic was drawn when the leaked pre-judgement came to light. Instead of the farmhand holding his pitchfork alongside his daughter, here a young woman is saying “my body” whilst a Supreme Court judge says “my choice”. The cartoon states what we all know, that an American woman’s body is not her own. She is but a tool of the state and as such not free to make her own choices about her life. She may as well be an animal or a slave.

And finally, Ann Telnaes’ cartoon from 2018 popped up in my Twitter cartoonists’ list. A simple, unflattering caricature of one of Trump’s most controversial Supreme Court appointees, Brett Kavanaugh, and the now Vice President, Kamala Harris’ question to him. “Can you think of any laws that give Government the power to make decisions about the male body?” As much as the question about guns having more rights than women, many have continued to ask this important question. Why does the state continue to treat half of its voters as second class citizens and regulate their bodies, whilst not having any power or desire to do the same over men’s?

Since having a baby myself and also breastfeeding and watching that baby grow off nothing more than what I produce, it is clear to me that women possess a superpower. It’s such a shame that approximately half the species is so much stronger and able to wield control over those that have this extraordinary ability to create, grow and birth life. A mother will know if it is not the best possible time or chance to bring that life into the world. Some judge who’s been given arbitrary rights over her will not. What a shameful situation.