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CV NEWS FEED // New York City’s Barnard College is holding a “self-managed abortion” event in which participants will learn about herbs and plants that induce abortion. The herbs will be available in a garden on campus.
The event description states, “Join the BC-CU Reproductive Justice Collective and NYC For Abortion Rights, to discuss the history of self-managed abortion, what it is, how medication abortions work, and why this is critical knowledge. As access to abortion is becoming increasingly restricted and criminalized, we will explore self-managed abortion is as an essential mode of community care.”
The event is sponsored in part by the “Trigger Planting 2.0” garden on campus, which was first displayed at the Frieze New York art fair in May 2022. The exhibition “featured a large United States map on which abortifacient and emmenagogue herbs marked the 26 States with trigger laws, near-total bans, six-week bans, and or State constitutional amendments that prohibit protections on abortion.”
The College Fix reports that it reached out several times over the past month for more information on the event and has not received any response. The outlet asked whether the abortion garden is a permanent display, if there are warnings against home experimentation, and whether the abortifacient herbs are marked “for educational purposes only.”
An October 2024 article from the university implied that the garden will become a permanent part of campus.
“This project has particular meaning as it involves a cause that is important to me,” the university’s groundskeeper and horticulturist Keith Gabora stated. “The permanent location for the garden will continue to bring this cause to light long after the project is complete — I look forward to maintaining it and using it as a teachable entity in the future.”
The Fix also noted that Catholic University of America Professor Michael New expressed safety concerns over the exhibit and event.
“It appears that the exhibition is spreading misleading information about abortion,” New told The Fix in an email. “No herbal abortifacient has been approved for use by the FDA. Many herbal abortifacients are toxic and pose serious health risks. I doubt that this is mentioned in the display.”
He added that if students are permitted to consume the abortifacient herbs in the garden or if women are encouraged to use abortion-inducing herbs at home, it could result in negative health consequences.
