An attempt to portray abortion as a “normal” part of women’s reproductive care was unveiled recently in New York. The two-part exhibit was put together by a group comprised of various artists and curators, such as Jasmine Wahi, Marilyn Minter, Rebecca Pauline Jampol, Gina Nanni, Laurie Simmons, and Sandy Tait. The goal of the project is to provide “a larger idea of body ownership and autonomy.”
The art pieces featured in the exhibit convey a pro-abortion ideology through the use of photographs, paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces. Explaining to ARTnews the purpose of the project, Wahi said:
Our sentiment is that abortion is part of health and reproductive justice, and anything having to do with reproductive justice has to do with body autonomy and body sovereignty…. Therefore any type of medical procedure—anything that affects one’s body—that is their choice to do should be normal.
A broad range of visual stories about the female perspective on “reproductive rights” also appeared in the exhibit. The disdain for pro-life laws, such as the one signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, motivated Minter to say, “Let’s do something. I’m going batsh*t crazy.” This then inspired the creation of the project.
Half of the proceeds from the exhibit will go to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. A recent annual report from 2018 reported the corporation’s highest number of abortions, performing 345,672 in a single year.
According to Rebecca Pauline Jampol, abortion is necessary for women to be equal to men and preserve their bodily autonomy.
It’s really making you think about [abortion] as something that’s part of our healthcare that’s supposed to be normalized, and that we’re supposed to have this access. It shouldn’t be a fight for it.
As Live Action has previously reported, abortion is a procedure that deliberately takes the life of an innocent human being. Portraying it as art cannot conceal this uncomfortable fact.
