I’m convinced that the role of faith in this moment is to affirm gratitude for the essential healthcare of abortion, and the beloved personhood for all the people who have made or will make that choice. I am grateful for the art of Viva Ruiz, boldy calling the faith movement into a modern language.
This article was first published through the United Church of Christ's Witness for Justice column. You can read the full article on the Faith Choice Ohio blog.
Excerpt
"Since its conception and zygote stage, I’ve been following the art project Thank God For Abortion, created by artist Viva Ruiz, as they have instigated a global movement disrupting both the perceived conservative religious monopoly on abortion as well as the respectability politics of the religious left to dance around the issue.
Thank God for Abortion is not designed to make church folks feel comfortable.
It’s deeply resonant with queer and poor and working-class folks. The artist describes every piece of art as a “tool” to normalize and destigmatize abortion, taking space for the people who have had multiple abortions and feel great about it. Viva speaks about being a living testimony and receiving the stories from so many people just by being loud.
People respond usually one of a few ways: stunned and can’t find the reaction, or they love the project, or they demonstrate hatred tinged with potential violence.
Thank God for Abortion (TGFA) is not a project with caveats and circumstances and “what ifs” but a radical acceptance of abortion as a healthcare procedure, readily available for all people seeking care. It is not a movement led by cis white women with class access, but by queer and Black and Brown working-class folx of all gender expansiveness, naming and claiming abortion access as something we can expect to be “legal, safe, and free.”
From Mexico to Poland to the Vatican to New York to Texas and Ohio, TGFA has been calling and leading a religious movement that refuses the shame and oppression that have so long permeated abortion access, claiming a liberative God as present in all moments of choice, saying/singing in an explicit music video, 'God is cool with me, she says, Girl, you know I love you, God is cool with me, she says; Girl, you know I gotchu.'"