The Future of Reproductive Health
Photograph by Lauren Murphy. Amnesty International USA protest for the right to abortion near the Supreme court in Washington DC on 26 March 2024.
Gloria Steinem once said, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” I believe that is true, yet what is disheartening is to see the reproductive rights of women getting voted out by other women. We have turned this issue into a religious and moral debate, yet the critical factor of the issue is health care for women. The woman who I am betting on in November aptly pointed out that “one does not have to abandon their faith” to support a woman’s right to make decisions about her body. Yet, this issue continues to create divisiveness in this country.
Abortion is one of the main issues that will drive voters to the ballot box since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, making it possible for 22 states to restrict a woman’s ability to make life-saving decisions about her body. However, women are not the only ones confronted with this decision. How is it possible that we are overlooking the reality that children face after being raped and then expected to carry their own child to term? Additionally, as pointed out by The Atlantic, “draconian laws are forcing physicians to ignore their training and put patients’ lives at risk.”
This is not a pleasant blog post. It does not paint a pretty picture, just as many of the images within our current exhibition do not always please the eye but instead evoke consideration and conversation. The work in the Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell collection is riveting, as Sara pointed out, and reflects the way that art can educate and inform—a key mission of Bader+Simon.
artwork by Judy Polstra, from the Vance Waddell collection.
The art critic and writer Deborah Soloman discussed how the topic of abortion has (cautiously) entered the art world. In her NY Times article, Soloman points out how “the subject of abortion, which historically was shrouded in shame and relegated to the realm of unspeakable secrets, has lately been gaining visibility in the art world.” The article mentions a comment from the Brooklyn Museum director, Anne Pasternak, who states, “We have 150,000 objects in the collection, and I can’t think of one specifically about abortion.”
Untitled 6, from the Paula Rego abortion series.
Art has the power to agitate yet also to provide perspective. Paula Rego’s abortion series is a “visceral and moving reminder of the power of art to reflect and reveal everyday experiences, redefine conversations and re-politicize events that some would prefer to push to the periphery.” Rego created the series after a 1998 referendum to legalize abortion in her home country of Portugal failed. Rego stated that the series “highlights the fear and pain and danger of an illegal abortion, which is what desperate women have always resorted to. It’s very wrong to criminalize women on top of everything else. Making abortions illegal is forcing women to the backstreet solution.”
Unfortunately, we have turned backward as a country and are now forcing women, once again, to risk criminal charges and backstreet options. As a leading nation in health care options, with our hand firmly on the bible, we are racing straight for the dark ages. Women’s bodies have become battlegrounds fighting for territorial rights. Again and again and again, we continue to place a woman’s right to make choices about her body firmly on the ballot box for others to decide.
Barbara Kruger, still from the video version of Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989/2019. Sprüth Magers.
Barbara Kruger created the above image in 1989. Abortion was legal in the late 80s, yet Roe v. Wade was being challenged, leading to protests and demonstrations. In response to this shift, Kruger created Untitled (Your body is a battleground. “We thought we had done this in 1973, and here it was in 1989 and it was still happening.” And here we are, in 2024, and it’s happening again.
Ultimately, the majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal and a woman should have the freedom to made medical decisions for herself. Yet it’s the extremities that lie within the differences. It is inexplicitly immoral to make a rape or incest victim carry a child to term. It is detrimental to make a woman who has miscarried put her life at risk. It is an egregious use of power and the law to arrest a doctor who is trying to do their job.
If you are on the fence, please consider walking in the shoes of another. If you are not registered to vote, please do so and consider supporting individuals who support a woman’s right to choose. Left, right, religious or not, it doesn’t matter. This is a human rights issue that impacts everyone. Thank you to the artists who are visually presenting insight on this important topic, and to collectors, such as Sara and Michelle, who are supporting the artists who make the visuals possible. #vote
Tamara White is the founder and board president of Bader+Simon.