Artist Celebrates Roe v. Wade by Sending 2016 Presidential Candidates Feminist T-Shirts

Today is the 43rd anniversary.

One version of Michele Pred's "My Body My Business" t-shirt. Photo courtesy of Michele Pred.

A Swedish-American artist is staging a birthday party for Roe v. Wade in California today, but it won’t include a cake. Instead, artist Michele Pred will lead the “Roe v. Wade 43rd Anniversary Art Action in Oakland,” a walk to the city’s main post office, where she will mail off t-shirts to each of the 2016 presidential candidates.

On January 22, 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled that the decision to have an abortion is protected by the 14th Amendment. Today, reproductive rights, including rights to abortion and access to birth control, are a central point of conflict between women and US lawmakers.

A "Her Body Her Business" T-Shirt by Michele Pred. Photo courtesy of the artist.

A “Her Body Her Business” t-shirt by Michele Pred. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Pred, who claims to have made her first piece of art about reproductive rights in 1989, has created a run of simple white t-shirts with the phrase “Her Body Her Business” across the chest. The t-shirts will be painfully easy for the candidates to use once they arrive, but it won’t be surprising if none of them wear one on the campaign trail.

The “Her Body Her Business” performance will take place at 1682 7th street in Oakland. All pro-choice supporters in the area are invited to meet Pred at 4 p.m. and join in the procession across the street to the post office.


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