"Horrified" is how Choose Life at Yale's Margaret Blume describes the general reaction of her peers towards Aliza Shvarts' senior art project, one in which the art major supposedly impregnated and induced abortions on herself over the past year.
"Almost every student whom I encountered yesterday was horrified at the thought that Aliza Shvarts had repeatedly impregnated herself, only to induce miscarriages, and glory in her 'freedom' to do so. It was deeply reassuring to me that most of my friends and fellow classmates, regardless of their political views on abortion, shared my outrage for such an awful and unnatural experiment. There is still some common level of morality or decency that most people instinctively acknowledge."
Blume expressed dismay at the support Svarts has received from some students, the university's administration, and the Women's center. 'The Women's Center starkly expresses the absolute nature of this right: "Whether it is a question of reproductive rights or of artistic expression, Aliza Shvarts' body is an instrument over which she should be free to exercise full discretion." '
After the story exploded on the internet, Yale Officials denied that Svarts' story was true. Helaine Klasky, Vice President of public affairs at Yale, called the entire project 'creative fiction'. In a story that ran in Friday's Yale Daily News, Svarts maintained that she did impregnate and induce abortions on herself several times over the past year.
When asked if this project was a hoax, Blume stated "There are many ambiguities surrounding the true nature of Aliza Shvarts' project...According to Aliza, 'an intentional ambiguity pervades both the act and the objects I produced in relation to it.' Her whole point is that there is no objective meaning in any act, and specifically, in a woman's body. Yet how can whether or not a life was created and killed be a matter of ambiguity!"
Blume gave Choose Life at Yale's official response to the controversy
"We believe that Yale students, regardless of their views of abortion, were deeply disturbed by this trivialization of the agony of women who face crisis pregnancies and endure miscarriages. This episode offends every thinking person who grapples with the deeply polarizing moral issue of abortion. Most profoundly, it is a depraved but telling reflection of the disrespect for life that abortion has inevitably led to. Though this unfortunate matter may attract wide and unflattering attention to Yale, we hope, at the very least, it will also generate a thoughtful dialogue about the value of human life, and the fact that Aliza's project is only one logical and legal conclusion of the pro-choice position. Also, we are planning to hold a candlelight vigil on Wednesday, April 23rd, from 9-11 pm on Yale's cross campus."
Whether Svarts intended it or not, the controversy brought the abortion debate to the fore front at Yale and across the nation.
"The project has certainly made the abortion debate a salient issue on campus. We are planning to issue a joint statement with the Reproductive Rights Action League at Yale (RALY) expressing our disgust at such a trivialization of the issue, and of the painful experiences of all those who have had an abortion. We can only hope that the debate will force people to think intelligently about abortion, and question why they are so outraged if the fetus is not a human life."
"Since the project has aroused anger and disgust, we hope that it will cause people to reevaluate their views in light of the fact that Aliza's project was legal, and that such a grotesque disregard for life is only the logical conclusion of a woman's absolute right to do whatever she wants with her body."
Blume agreed that Yale should not allow the project to be exhibited, even if it was a hoax.
"Even if the project was some sort of hoax, we completely agree with the Students for Life of America. We are "appalled that Yale University would allow a student to use the tragedy of miscarriage and abortion as a practical joke and then call it 'art.' If a male art student would have released that he planned to exhibit condoms he used to rape multiple women in an effort to produce shock, the American people and pro-choice feminist groups across the country would have demanded that the student apologize for his grotesque behavior and be severely reprimanded or expelled from school. In fact, I doubt that Yale senior project professor would have even allowed the project to continue in the first place. Falsely announcing that one has taken several lives is unethical, and this girl has inflicted serious harm to the women of this country who have experienced the pain of miscarriage." If she actually did try to impregnate herself, which we think is very possible, then we will certainly protest such a flagrant glorification of what is essentially murder. "
The groups website is located http://www.yale.edu/clay
