Art Inspired by North Carolina's Abortion Story

On January 31, 2025, artist Andrea Renee Downs donated her painting "Waystation" to the staff at a Planned Parenthood South Atlantic health center in North Carolina. It now hangs in the staff entranceway, so they can walk past it every time they come in to work.

Downs is a social practice and mixed-media artist and founder of The Laundry Line, a community art project that amplifies the stories of women. She was inspired to create the painting after hosting a virtual screening of North Carolina Abortion Story, a short documentary film created by the ACLU of North Carolina in partnership with Narrative Arts. Through intimate interviews, personal narratives, and expert commentary, the film explores the history of abortion in North Carolina, the modern movement for reproductive justice, and the impact of abortion bans on patients and providers. The film is now available for anyone to watch on our YouTube channel.

In response to the film, Downs invited community members to submit messages of love and support for abortion providers, which she incorporated into a painting of flowers.

According to Downs, the painting is "a symbolic representation of the positive and uplifting energy that sustains, supports, protects, and deepens relationships. Each painted flower was carefully selected to communicate strength, healing, hope, resilience, joy, adaptability, transformation, and courage. The concept of a waystation is borrowed from the idea of a Monarch Waystation–an outdoor garden space that provides food, shelter, and other resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration.”

Downs donated the painting to the staff at a Planned Parenthood health center in North Carolina (location omitted for privacy), which provides critical family planning and abortion services.

North Carolina is in the midst of an abortion access crisis. All over the country, states have banned or severely restricted abortion, and the states where it’s still legal are seeing a huge influx of out-of-state patients. Because of all this extra need, clinics and abortion funds are struggling to keep up with demand. Abortion funds are running out of their monthly funds in a matter of days, and clinic staff and volunteers are overwhelmed and overworked.

This painting will be one reminder to the staff at Planned Parenthood that their work matters, and that they have a huge swell of community support behind them.

The ACLU of North Carolina is dedicated to working in the courts, in the legislature, and in the streets to protect and advance abortion access in our state. If you want to get involved with the movement for reproductive freedom in North Carolina, you can check out our online abortion guide and sign up to volunteer.

"Waystation" Donation

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