Impact of Sex-Selective Abortion Bans on Asian Americans

In the United States, abortion has increasingly become a politicized issue, with Republican-led states seeking to limit access to abortion. Sex-selective abortion bans are one type of restriction that prevents doctors from performing abortions if they believe the abortion is motivated by preference for the fetus’s sex. Such bans are justified using racist stereotypes associating Asian Americans with sex-selective practices, even though no evidence of this occurrence exists. This series of digital artworks show how sex-selective abortion bans unfairly target Asian Americans, misleadingly pit gender equality against abortion access, and violate the privacy between doctor and patient.

Artist

Patricia Liu (2020)

Artist Lens

My multimedia campaign product includes three pieces of digital artwork that seeks to communicate the impact of sex-selective abortion bans on Asian Americans. “Target” is intended to convey how sex-selective abortion bans target Asian Americans by relying on stereotypes about Asian cultures that aren’t applicable in the United States. “False Binary” is intended to convey how the proponents of sex-selective abortion bans attempt to force people into a false binary of choosing between gender equality and abortion rights—when in reality, they are not mutually exclusive. “Law Enforcement” is intended to convey how sex-selective abortion bans force doctors to act as law enforcement in reporting whether or not patients are seeking a sex-selective abortion. The intended audience is the general public, who may not know much about abortion bans in general, much less sex-selective abortion bans. 

The three pieces of digital artwork are intended to spark emotions in the viewers, emotions that will hopefully motivate them to learn more about sex-selective abortion bans. In order to combat sex-selective abortion bans, we must challenge misinformation, improve abortion access overall, and promote societal norms of gender equality. Hopefully, viewers will leave with a better understanding of and a desire to learn more about the structures that limit women’s ability to exercise their right to make decisions about their own bodies.

Media

Digital Illustration

Download Impact of Sex-Selective Abortion Bans on Asian Americans PDF