In their typical balaclava fashion, the Moscow-based feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot stormed the Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday to fight against abortion bans.
On Nov. 14, Russian feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot infiltrated the Indiana Supreme Court for a demonstration entitled “God Save Abortion.” A 10 ft-tall inflatable vagina, hot pink smoke, the groups’ trademark balaclavas, and their new punk song featuring lyrics, “God save abortion” and “Virgin Mary please become a feminist,” accompanied the protest. The demonstration is part of a bigger reproductive rights campaign of art actions launching in 2024.
Nadya Tolokonnikova, the creator of Pussy Riot and leader of the “God Save Abortion” demonstration, stated that the group targeted Indiana to support women in red states. “They are neither seen, nor protected. Indiana was the first state to outlaw most abortions after Roe v Wade was overturned,” she said. It was also in Indiana that a medical board fined Indianapolis OBGYN Dr. Caitlin Bernard for speaking out about administering an abortion to a 10-year-old victim of rape. No one, not even a 10-year-old, is safe from harassment and intimidation.
“I never read the version of the Bible where Jesus mocks and humiliates people who are hurt,” said Tolokonnikova. She berates the familiar religious rationale for opposing the right to abortion, declaring that supreme courts have become the “hand and uncontested voice of god.” Pussy Riot is “paying homage” to Martin Luther by delivering their own theses, starting with Thesis №1, “God Save Abortion.”
The protest was in collaboration with Indiana University students. Pussy Riot intends to return hope to young people who are losing faith in the system and encourage them to protest in any way they can, whether it’s by creating art, speaking up, or voting for their rights.
“Our audience is not necessarily people who hate what we stand for, but instead, our audience is like-minded people who feel overlooked, unsafe, and unseen. ”
“Our audience is not necessarily people who hate what we stand for, but instead, our audience is like-minded people who feel overlooked, unsafe, and unseen,” said Tolokonnikova. Ironically, taking inspiration from the dedicated anti-abortion protestors outside Planned Parenthood who show up every day, she calls for her group of activists to “match and overtake this dedication.”
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. This measure reversed 50 years of a woman’s right to her body. Since then, the anti-abortion trend has spread like a vicious wildfire. Abortion is now banned in fourteen states and restricted in most others. The movement even spread to Pussy Riot’s home base of Russia, where Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, recently supported the initiative of banning abortions, apparently as an effort to increase the country’s population.
Pussy Riot sees this lack of hope and intends to fill it with protest in the form of art. “Whenever I fail to see any hope, I turn to art,” said Tolokonnikova. “Art is like a magic wand, it’s a very special instrument.” Some of Tolokonnikova and Pussy Riot’s demands include the separation of church and state, that their voices are heard, and access to legal and safe abortions for every person in the US.
Tolokonnikova encourages anyone demoralized by the erosion of their rights to persevere. “I know you hate the system that failed you, but it’s in your power to change it, even if it seems otherwise,” she said.
All images of Pussy Riot by James Pawlish.
