Just to clarify, I don’t agree with Douthat that Aliza Shvarts‘s kinda-hoaxy abortion art project raises uncomfortable questions for pro-choicers. Scott makes a good point that this art project should raise the question of whether anti-choicers believe a woman should be punished, along with her doctor, for obtaining an abortion, but I just don’t believe that’s going to come into play. Pro-choicers are going to stop talking about this in a few days, or a few weeks at most. Anti-choicers will dredge it up for a lifetime as “evidence” that women have abortions for frivolous reasons.

–Ann Friedman

Ann Friedman is a columnist for New York magazine’s website and for the Columbia Journalism Review. She also makes pie charts for The Hairpin and Los Angeles magazine. Her work has appeared in ELLE, Esquire, Newsweek, The Observer, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Los Angeles, but travels so often the best place to find her is online at annfriedman.com. Follow @annfriedman