An exhibition featuring the work of 40 female artists, among them Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie and Laurie Simmons, will go on display in New York this Thursday (January 9) in response to the dranconian laws in motion across the US to severely restrict women’s access to abortion. 

The show – which takes place at Arsenal Contemporary – is the latest in a multi-series of exhibitions titled ABORTION IS NORMAL, which, according to a press release: “brings together a heterogeneous array of artists countering with their personal response to abortion and abortion access in order to create an inclusive and empathetic entry point to this conversation.” 

Marilyn Minter, whose evocative work “Cuntrol” (2020) is set to go on display, told Art Newspaper that: “Having the option to plan your reproduction is empowering – it is not inextricably traumatic… I want to normalise abortion as a life-saving medical procedure, mentally and physically.”

ABORTION IS NORMAL comes at a crucial time for the future of abortion rights, with the 2020 US presendetial election looming and a pivotal case currently underway at the Surpeme Court. Earlier this month, more than 200 members of congress urged the Supreme Court to ’reconsider’ abortion rights under Roe v. Wade – the 1973 landmark ruling legally sanctioning the right to choose – which is now at risk of being reversed. 

Abortion rights faced a devastating setback in the US last year when a law was voted on to make abortion illegal in all circumstances, including incest and rape, except if a woman’s life is at risk. A federal judge later ruled it would not go into effect. However, in 2020 it looks like we’ll see anti-choice politicians continue their attempts to enshrine law – Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Idaho all have legislation in motion to restrict abortion. In Northern Ireland, however, there was recent reason to celebrate, when MPs finally backed an amendment to lift the country’s archaic abortion laws last October. 

All proceeds from ABORTION IS NORMAL will go directly to Planned Parenthood and Downtown for Democracy.