How Can One Tastefully Depict Abortion? (Patreon)

When I was learning about sex-related stuff as a teen, I couldn't even begin to imagine how all that stuff... worked. I couldn't picture how bodies fit together or the crazy biological things that were going on under your skin. So one of my goals with OJST is to leave N O T H I N G to the imagination. I want the reader to KNOW just what exactly things look like when they're done with a comic.

While working on the In-Clinic Abortion comic, I immersed myself in looking up photo reference of the tools used in this procedure and step-by-step diagrams of the process, as usual.  The page I came up with to explain the process was this:

(Heads up, this may be upsetting? You have been  warned.)

"HONEY." Matt was horrified. "WE CAN'T SHOW A FETUS GETTING ABORTED ON OUR SITE. We'll get destroyed!"

Oh... Oh right. 

So, how do you explicitly show something without actually... showing it?

Here's what Matt came up with after repurposing the art I'd already  drawn:

I'm pretty happy with this compromise! You still see the full process, nothing is left to the imagination, but also we're not showing, y'know, a fetus get aborted. 

Win-win!