How this project began

I first mused about this project in my studio journal on Feb. 7, 2025: “Several weeks into being pummeled by the new administration, and spending two weeks on abortion rights in [my women’s studies] class, I am reminded of the idea I had for a mixed media project documenting the deaths of women due to abortion bans. Like the concept of the AIDs quilt, I suppose.” But I think the seed for the project was planted when, on Sept. 16, 2024, ProPublica broke the story of Amber Thurman’s preventable death. During the presidential campaign, Kamala Harris gave a powerful speech about Amber and how her death was caused by what Harris invariably called “Trump abortion bans.” At some point, it dawned on me that, after my miscarriage at the age of 28, the procedure I had was a D&C, and that a D&C is the same procedure used for surgical abortions. I still can’t believe that I didn’t put this together until in my 60s, but because abortion was legal for my entire reproductive life, there’s a lot I never thought about. When I registered that Amber was 28 when she died for lack of a D&C, suddenly the nightmare of living under Dobbs hit home in a way it hadn’t before. Especially when I realized that Amber’s son was left without a mother, whereas, after my miscarriage and D&C, I went on to bear a son who very much has a mother. This square aims to honor Amber through my choice of fabric and beads that are amber in color. The number 8 is intended to evoke an hourglass. I hope it conveys those long 20 hours, represented by the French knots, that she spent dying at a place that should have saved her.