Pro-life student group denounces artist who used abortions for art exhibit

Apr 18, 2008 / 02:18 am

A national pro-life student group denounced the actions of a Yale art student who claims to have artificially inseminated herself and then induced in herself several abortions as part of an art project.  The national group, Students for Life America, has also called on abortion-rights organizations to condemn the student’s actions.

According to the April 17 edition of the Yale Daily News, a so-called art project of Yale senior Aliza Shvarts will display physical blood samples and videos of her abortions in the stated goal that the exhibit will "spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body."  In the Yale Daily News article, Shvarts said she was not ashamed of the exhibition and has become “increasingly comfortable” discussing her induced miscarriages in everyday conversation.

"I feel that she is manipulating life for the benefit of her art, and I definitely don't support it. I think it's morally wrong," said Yale junior Jonathon Serrato, according to the Yale Daily News.

Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life America (SFLA), responded to the Yale Daily News report.  

"I call on Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW and all other so-called pro-choice groups to condemn this. Abortion should never be trivialized as a matter of 'art'," Hawkins said.

"Why did the school officials and advisors not intervene with Shvarts' project?” she asked.

"By letting Shvarts to complete her 'art' project, Yale allowed Shvarts to put herself in serious medical risk. The student even remarked in the article that she did not see the need in consulting a physician prior to self-abortions because everything she used was legal.

Hawkins continued, saying "Shvarts' art project trivializes the pain many women feel when they experience miscarriages. She is recreating a natural tragedy for her own personal gain without regard for her children or herself.”