Pussy Riot storms Indiana's supreme court to fight for reproductive rights

GOD SAVE ABORTION is part of a bigger reproductive rights campaign of art actions that Pussy Riot are launching this upcoming year. This first piece is in collaboration with students from Indiana University.

“We came to Indiana because we care about the most vulnerable groups of people - womb-holders who exist in the red states. They are neither seen, nor protected. Indiana was the first state to outlaw most abortions after Roe v Wade was overturned," explains Nadya Tolokonnikova. "Even 10-year-old rape victims, and those that support them, like doctor Caitlin Bernard, are subject to harassment and intimidation here in Indiana. I never read the version of the Bible where Jesus mocks and humiliates people who are hurt."

Tolokonnikova explains that she was inspired to work with students because she wants to encourage them to vote. "Younger population may have lost trust in the system, but we want to inspire and encourage them to take any act of protest - from creating art, to speaking up, to voting for their rights."

"The state supreme courts have become the hand and uncontested voice of god, we protest this by paying homage to Martin Luther and delivering our theses - starting with Thesis №1, GOD SAVE ABORTION," she continues. "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. We wish to inspire, organize, and collaborate with these like-minded people, who feel that the government has taken total control of their bodies and their rights.'

"Pussy Riot has always meant to bring hope to hopeless situations - whenever I fail to see any hope, I turn to art. It helps me to make my message more loud and clear. Art is like a magic wand, it’s a very special instrument. Resist, organize, find like-minded people. And, most importantly, vote. I know you hate the system that failed you, but it’s in your power to change it, even if it seems otherwise.”

Along with their latest protest, Pussy Riot have added the following demands:

1. We demand the separation church and state

2. We demand that our voices are heard

3. We demand access to LEGAL and SAFE abortion for every person in the United States

4. We demand limitations of government control over our bodiesWe demand a Pussy Riot representative to be appointed as an official advisor to each state’s supreme court, as experts on the separation of church and state, as well as the importance of bodily autonomy