Turning to Art for Comfort: Roe V. Wade

Art provides humanity with a sense of connection, emotion, and feeling when trying times are at hand. We dive a bit into the most recent leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion on overturning Roe v. Wade, and some of the artwork that has been surfacing and resurfacing since the slue of news articles were published this past Monday evening.

An example of one of these artworks, created by Paula Rego... we'll talk more about her work later in the post.

The past couple of years have been difficult, to say the least... the COVID-19 pandemic, the passing of George Floyd, the war in Ukraine, unemployment issues, and the ridiculous rise of the housing market, just to name a few. The most recent problem we have encountered is a shot at women's healthcare with the leaking of a document the Supreme Court drafted that aims to overturn Roe v. Wade.

These leak has created naturally strong emotions, specifically for women across the states, such as anger, fear, and sadness. When people feel these emotions, they usually want to find a source of comfort, belonging, and or understanding. The most common, and most beautiful way, in my eyes, is when people turn to art.

We look at narrative films, documentaries, paintings, photos, and sculptures. We read books and stories, together or on our own. We also visit museums and local art houses to process our emotions, and we learn. I know this is how I deal with the world happenings, when they are happening, in order to process my own emotions, create my own opinions, and educate myself. Artwork Archive has a fantastic article going in-depth on why turning to art is so beneficial to people during crisis, including mental health benefits, connection and understanding between communities, and expressing gratitude when it's difficult (Artwork Archive).

For today's post, I'd like to discuss art that specifically correlates to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court leaked decision situation since it it something I, as well as many of the people I am close to, feel strongly about. We will be looking at some pieces that deal with abortion and women's healthcare.

Before diving into the pieces, I'd like to take the time to explain what is happening in the news, for it is important to understand what the Supreme Court has drafted, what it means, and how it can impact people across the United States.

What is Roe v. Wade?

In 1969, single Texas native Norma McCorvey, pregnant with her second child, decided she wanted an abortion after a long history of troubled childhood, teen pregnancy, divorce, and general unhappiness . Unfortunately, during that time, abortions were illegal in Texas unless preformed in a life-threatening situation to save the mother, but McCorvey wanted to challenge the law. Under the name Jane Doe (in order to protect her identity) she teamed up with attorney Sarah Weddington to challenge the problem, utilizing the 14th amendment to argue that the abortion law violated Doe's rights to personal privacy. According to Oyez, the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 9th amendments were also used to support Doe's claims against District Attorney of Dallas County, Texas, Henry Wade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CezlmUwMXNo

The video above does a quick explanation on the Roe v. Wade situation. Video posted by Quimbee on YouTube.

In the end, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in favor of Doe, stating along the lines that "The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects against state action the right to privacy, and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion falls within that right to privacy." ("Roe v. Wade."). They also decided that:

- Only the pregnant woman and her physician may make a decision on abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy, not the state

- During the second trimester, the state may "impose regulations" on abortion that are "reasonably related to maternal health" ("Roe v. Wade.")

- Finally, during the third trimester, a state may regulate or prohibit abortions, so long as there are exceptions to saving the mother's life

If you would like to read even more details on the case, I suggest doing some reading with the original case on Cornell Law's Website: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113

Or on Oyez's website for something a little easier to digest: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18

So, How Does the Supreme Court Come In to Play in 2022?

Earlier this week, political journalism company Politico reported a leaked Supreme Court draft that aims to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision, as well as the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey court decision that maintained the 1973 decision (Politico).

The 98-page first draft breaks down the issue at hand and is strongly ruled against the original Roe v. Wade decision. Right of the bat, page 6 states:

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences... It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." (SCOTUS Initial Draft, from Politico's Website).

Basically, the draft would be taking away around 50 years of federal constitutional protections of abortion rights (chilling, right?). The Supreme Court did confirm that the draft leaked on Monday was in fact "authentic" according to NBC's Live News Update on Roe v. Wade. While this is just a draft, many new sources speculate that if the draft is followed through, it would be put into motion across the states in about two months. Some state representatives are thrilled by the leaked draft, while others are devastated-- a reflection of the public eye as well.

What Problems Would Arise with a Follow Through?

There are a multitude of problems that arise when women's healthcare is at risk. For starters, taking away legal ways to have an abortion does not eliminate abortions from happening; rather, it leads to more unsafe abortions happening that are a danger to women's health and wellbeing. According to Amnesty International's website, a quarter of pregnancies end in abortion every year.

Additionally, the website states that, "the World Health Organisation (WHO) [has defined unsafe abortions] as “a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not confirm to minimal medical standards, or both.”" It is estimated that 25 million unsafe abortions happen each year according to WHO. These unsafe abortions can lead to numerous health risks for women, including preventable death.

So, taking away basic healthcare can easily happen with this proposal, and not just for women. This would also impact those that are intersex, transgender men and women, and those with other gender identities. This also really harms women of color, as well as women ranging from very young to very old. A very large range of women across the United States would be impacted by this change if Roe v. Wade is turned, being a federal law, which then allows states to really unhinge and put down some even harsher laws that impact women across the board. And if states start to outright ban abortions, what options do people have? If you can afford it, you can go to another state, but then what happens? Clinics, small and large, are busy and become burnt out.

Since this proposal could easily snowball into a larger scenario, let's even look at contraception! With the impeding banning of abortion, for example, and giving states the power to install their own laws due to the change of the federal law, some states could easily take away access to contraceptions, including medical procedures like getting your tubes tied, birth control like pills, shots, or IUD's, and even condoms. For all the men out there, this is not just a problem for women, this is a problem for you too. Like many hilarious dark comedy TikTok's I've been seeing on my page have stated, you can kiss your sex life goodbye!

I personally believe that the bottom line here is women's right to healthcare. Healthcare is hard enough to deal with in the United States, and this could lead to a slue of even harder problems, especially for those in poor and working class families. Not everyone can pay their way through their healthcare, especially if it becomes so restricted. Many understand that these are all "what if's", but honestly, I'd rather thing about the "what if's", talk to people about why this could be such a problem, and stand up to prevent these things from happening.

So, with the knowledge at hand on Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's leaked information, and why this could be so detrimental to women's healthcare and reproductive rights, let's turn to some art.

Some Art We'd Like to Highlight

1. Untitled: The Abortion Pastels

Artist: Paula Rego

Creation Date: 1998-1999

Format: Pastel

These pastels created by Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego were created during a time when 8 U.S. states passed laws to limit access to abortions between '98 and '99 (Caldwell). The pieces show women after an illegal or at-home abortion. There's something very deeply connecting with these pieces, with where each woman is looking, and the expressions on their faces. You can see the tiredness in the bodies of the women, from the women holding her stomach laying on her back on the black couch to the woman on her knees, face smushed into the side of the red bedding.

This is reality- this is what women have gone through in the past (and truthfully present) to get an abortion when the chips are down. Viewers can see and empathize with the pain, emptiness, and tiredness.

2. 12th and Delaware

Director: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewig

Creation Date: 2010

Format: Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EubQxdedM

Alright, I am going to be brutally honest with you and say that I did not finish this documentary on time for this specific post. There is much to dissect, much to discuss, and much to digest in an hour and 20-minute screening. This is not something I do often, but it happens from time to time.

This documentary, as you will watch in the trailer above, is about an abortion clinic and a crisis pregnancy center being right across the street from one another on streets 12th and Delaware in Fort Pierce, Florida. The film details the "raging war" between these two establishments and takes us inside each of the buildings. The first half of the documentary covers the crisis pregnancy center, where workers try to convince those in a pregnancy crisis why keeping the baby can be a good thing, while the second half of the documentary (I would assume, I did not get that far) showcases the abortion clinic, the services provided for those in need, and the owners.

I came into the documentary with open arms, even though I do strongly support the pro-choice opinion. I wanted to see another viewpoint and to dive deeper into why people support the pro-life opinion. This was specifically neat in 12th and Delaware because it is a cinema verité type of piece, where the filmmaker acts like a "fly on the wall" to capture the storytelling. No narration is included and it is completely observational. This is a very difficult form of documentary to create, so I knew right of the bat I found a very interesting piece of filmmaking.

I enjoyed watching the thought process of the woman who owned the pregnancy crisis center, but over time, some (well, actually many) things were said and done by a multitude of other characters that just really.... boiled my blood to be honest! My stress levels were getting higher and I knew I needed to stop for the night.

I know my analysis of this piece was short and one-sided, but I do think I want to revisit this piece of media in the future, especially because it seems to be fairly unbiased (even though every piece of art has an opinion) with its use of cinema verité. It really made me think about the mindsets of both establishments and how the first half of the film had opinions radically different than my own. This was a very interesting experience.

A word of advice to those who watch this film and are a little hotheaded (on either side), take your time if you decide to take a look at 12th and Delaware to digest everything.

3. Generations of Women and Activists

Artist: Brooke Bourgeois

Creation Date: May 3rd, 2022

Format: Newspaper Cartoon

This has been one of my top favorite finds, especially because it is such a relevant piece being made only a few days ago on Tuesday May 3rd (and due to the Roe v. Wade situation!). Distributed by The New Yorker and created by Brooke Bourgeois, this cartoon depicts an earthquake-type issue happening to these two women who are standing in a kitchen. Cups and plates have fallen to the floor and shattered, and both women grab for something to hang onto: one using a nearby chair, and one using the counter.

What is this earthquake all about, you ask? The caption perfectly ties it together-- "Oh, that's just generations of women and activists turning over in their graves.". This picture is funny, yet deeply true. The slap of the Roe v. Wade leaked proposal has made generations of women and activists die inside AGAIN.... IN THEIR GRAVES. All this hard work for nothing, huh? This piece is charming and witty despite the state of the world.

4. Abortion is Normal

Artists: Ameya Marie, Amy Khoshbin, Cecily Brown, Chloe Wise, Chris Myers, Delano Dunn, Elektra KB, Fin Simonetti, Grace Graupe Pillard, Hank Willis Thomas, hayv kahraman, Jaishri Abichandani, Jane Kaplowitz, Jonathan Horowitz, Laurie Simmons, Marilyn Minter, Mika Rottenberg, Ryan McGinley, Sarah Sze, Shirin Neshat, Shoshanna Weinberger, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Suzy Lake, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Viva Ruiz/Thank God For Abortion, Xaviera Simmons, and Zoe Buckman. Artists that are new to the exhibition include Cajsa von Zeipel, Carrie Mae Weems, Derrick Adams, Jack Pierson, Jonathan Lydon Chase, Marisa Morán Jahn, Miguel Luciana, Narcissister, Portia Munson, Sahana Ramakrishnan, and Yvette Molina.

Creation Date: January 21st, 2020

Format: Emergency Art Exhibit

While I've only included two images of the exhibit, I feel very strongly about them. Abortion is Normal was a 2020 exhibit organized by Downtown for Democracy in New York City. The exhibit represented 38 artists (between it's first opening and it's second, where more artists were added) "as an urgent call-to-action to raise both awareness and funding in support of accessible, safe, and legal abortion. This show comes at a time when legal abortion is under acute attack throughout the United States, with fifty-eight restrictive laws passed in the United States since January 2019 alone. " ("Abortion is Normal").

What I love about this exhibit is that it represented so many artists and that it was considered an "emergency exhibit", which means to me that these artists and organizers worked very hard to showcase these morals they truly believe in to the public eye within a very short amount of time. My favorite piece in the exhibit is featured on the right-hand-side, showing some drawings of uteruses along with some text you can read. The texts are of the thoughts of women, whether they are real accounts or not, one of which is a 17 year old girl. I think the combination of the beautiful etchings of the uterus and the mix of the diary-esque entries on the piece speak to me on another level. This is a young girl talking too, a reminder that women of all ages and situations can and will go through abortions.

To view the rest of the exhibit, click here: https://www.arsenalcontemporary.com/ny/exhib/detail/abortion-is-normal

5. Then What is my Option?

Artist: Coryn Catanzaro

Creation Date: 2017

Format: Sculpture

I actually found out about this piece shortly after the Roe v. Wade leak on TikTok by user @lilly.alspaugh, who showed the Twitter post by Politico, followed by this hauntingly beautiful sculpture artwork. According to an interview article done by Women You Should Know, these sculptures were created by 22-year old Coryn Catanzaro, a student finishing (at the time of creation) her Bachelor's in Fine Arts at New Mexico State University. The piece was done due to the growing worries she and many others have had about the war on women's reproductive rights and showcases the methods women would have had to use to have an abortion before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

These pieces are gruesome, but hold so much truth that it's hard to look away. The plaster casting of sculpted hands hold the items, tools, and methods used in the past that invokes feelings of sadness. It also creates a reminder of the importance of the Roe v. Wade decision, and the history we could revert back to if the Supreme Court follows through with this draft. I shudder at the fact that women, like myself, had to use these methods in the past on themselves, and how much many of these would hurt and leave harsh marks-- again, a remembrance on why this issue is so important.

To view more versions of the sculpture hands, use this link: https://womenyoushouldknow.net/student-sculptor-shows-dangerous-abortion-methods-some-women-resorted-to-pre-roe-v-wade/

Conclusion

This is just a small taste of the artwork that is being created and that is being resurfaced at this time, and so much of it speaks loudly with a powerful voice. These are not the only kinds of art forms, too, the ones on canvas and paper or on film rolls and digital release: we've also experienced the art of protesting (whether peaceful or not), the art of sharing these news articles as they come out, the art of donating our time to help women into clinics for care, and the art of spreading awareness and information.

Photo from the protest at the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3rd... Photo sourced from Al Drago/Bloomberg.

For the Roe V. Wade situation, I've seen so many TikTok's, Tweets, and Instagram posts that explain why overturning such an important Supreme Court decision can be so detrimental to the health and wellbeing of women. People have been sharing their stories and experiences in the form of video to connect with and empathize with others.

This is why I am so drawn to art and it's many media forms. It is so detrimental to the physical health, mental health, overall wellbeing, and advancement of human life. It manifests and shows up to the front steps of your local courthouses, the Supreme Court, and your politicians' doorsteps. And while I know articles like this won't change everyone's mind about their stance on abortion, it at least can help open up the conversation between different parties to examine the issue as a whole and learn something new.

What Can Be Done to Make a Change?

After reading this article, you may be wondering what you can do to help...

FIRST AND FOREMOST, GO VOTE!

When voting times arise and you are of age, please go vote in as many elections as you can. Your vote can and will determine the future of your state representatives and lawmakers and how they vote and take care of the citizens of the United States.

Voting day! Photo sourced from Edmond Dantès on Pexels.

Additionally, you can attend protests in your area by doing some quick Google Searches and locating groups that organize protests. This is a great way to stand beside others who have similar beliefs as you and make a difference. If you do go to a protest, be sure to be aware of your surroundings in case of an emergency, and if you can, go with trusted friends or family members.

Here's an Instagram post created by @pghsocialistalternative that was uploaded exactly on Tuesday, May 3rd for an emergency protest. You can find these and more on many Instagram and Facebook pages across the states.

If you are unable to protest or want to help in other ways, you can also donate to your local clinics or Planned Parenthood. Many people suggest donating more towards local clinics since Planned Parenthood is so established and frequently funded, but I personally believe any donation helps (just make sure you research your local clinics and are donating to a cause you believe in, that's what matters most!).

Image sourced from cottonbro on Pexels.

Sources:

Why We Need Arts in Times of Crisis on Artwork Archive - https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/why-we-need-arts-in-times-of-crisis

What's worrying the world? by Joe Myers on the World Economic Forum - https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/what-worries-the-world-ipsos/

"Roe v. Wade." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18 . Accessed 4 May. 2022.

Norma McCorvey; American Activist Biography on Britannica - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norma-McCorvey

Roe v. Wade Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained by Quimbee on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CezlmUwMXNo

Jane ROE, et al., Appellants, v. Henry WADE. Case Brief on Cornell Law School - https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113

9 Artworks That Respond to the Fight for Abortion Access by Tessa Solomon on ARTnews - https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/artists/artworks-respond-abortion-rights-access-roe-wade-1234627389/marilyn-minter-cuntrol-2020/

Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows by Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward on Politico - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473

Live Updates / Roe v. Wade live updates: Reactions to Supreme Court leaked abortion ruling by NBC News on their website - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/-roe-v-wade-supreme-court-leaked-ruling-reactions-rcna27225

Our Future Revisited In Paula Rego’s Untitled: The Abortion Pastels by Ellen C. Callwell on Riot Material - https://www.riotmaterial.com/paula-rego-untitled-abortion-pastels/

KEY FACTS ON ABORTION on Amnesty International - https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/abortion-facts/

12th and Delaware on IMDB.- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1548865/?ref_=tt_mv_close

How a Crop of New Movies Is Changing the Narrative About Abortion by Suyin Haynes on Time - https://time.com/5799385/abortion-onscreen-representation/

Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, May 3rd by Brooke Bourgeois on The New Yorker - https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/tuesday-may-3rd-roe-v-wade

Abortion is Normal on Arsenal's Archives - https://www.arsenalcontemporary.com/ny/exhib/detail/abortion-is-normal

Student Sculptor Shows Dangerous Abortion Methods Some Women Resorted To Pre Roe v Wade on Women You Should Know - https://womenyoushouldknow.net/student-sculptor-shows-dangerous-abortion-methods-some-women-resorted-to-pre-roe-v-wade/

ABORTION HELPLINE, THIS IS LISA on Women Make Movies - https://www.wmm.com/film/abortion-helpline-this-is-lisa/