HOUSTON (LifeSiteNews) — Students at the University of Houston are speaking out against a statue recently erected on campus that was originally named in homage to the so-called “right” to abortion.
The towering gold statue features braided hair-shaped like ram horns, tentacle-like protrusions in place of arms, and a “lace” collar in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This “nod” to Ginsburg was chosen because of her defense of abortion, the artist explained in a statement about the piece, which brutally kills unborn children.
In a speech on campus, one post-abortive student decried the statue as a symbol of “evil” and a reminder of the “intense trauma” of her abortion, which she said has “overpowered” her daily life.
“I spend each day recovering and coping with the regret,” the unidentified student said, pointing out that the University of Houston has provided mental health resources that are helping her “to recover.
”But I am so disappointed that the institution that is helping me recover is allowing the same evil that caused this to plague our school atmosphere. When I see this statue, I don’t see empowerment and freedom. This statue is a physical representation of evil lies and negative energies that doesn’t belong on this once-amazing campus,” the student said.
“Just as my abortion only allowed dark and evil challenges into my life, this statue will bring the same horrendous ideologies and ideas to our campus and its amazing students. Evil is contagious and seeps through the tiniest cracks we create. And our campus and students deserve something better than a statue that opens a door and approves of ungodly actions.”
A Muslim student also recently told how after he had seen the statue, which he described as “satanic,” and finished one of his prayers, he started “bawling” because of what he had seen.
The statue strikes some commentators as satanic at least in part because the “horns” are reminiscent of a Baphomet image. While the artist behind the work, Shahzia Sikander, has not admitted to deliberately echoing satanic imagery, many argue that the admitted pro-abortion significance of the statue is indeed satanic.
A cohort of pro-life students and local Texans gathered in a prayerful protest on February 28, organized in part by Tradition Family Property (TFP) Student Action. According to the Catholic group, speakers and representatives of Houston Coalition for Life, Texas Right to Life, Coogs for Life, Students for Life, and Young Conservative Federation denounced the statue.
TFP reported that some pro-abortion students made obscene gestures at a statue of Our Lady, and another cursed the Catholics for praying. When one TFP member asked a pro-abortion student, “What do you want?” the student reportedly replied, “I want the destruction of Christianity.”
One of the Catholic protesters, 20-year-old Sean Cutler, told media outlet Chron that the statue is an “insult” to his faith and that “It’s horrifying to look at.”
“We want it out of our sight. We don’t want to be around it,” Cutler said.
Derrick Cooper, a member of the UH Student Government Association, told Chron the protests against the statue have actually inspired him to work to keep the statue on campus.
Cooper, who believes young white men “shouldn’t have a say in what any woman does with her body,” told Chron, “I literally didn’t care about the statue, but now that I know these people are so against it, I want the statue here. Now, I’m going to fight to have that statue at the school.”
Sikander, who designed the statue, noted to The Art Newspaper in a comment on the statue’s inscription “havah,” which translates to “Eve,” that Eve is the “first lawbreaker.”
Texas Right to Life stated in response, “Disobedience to God certainly should not be esteemed by society, much less lauded with a statue,” and called for petitions against the sculpture. “On the contrary, art should reflect truth, goodness, and beauty: three timeless values that reveal the nature of God. Art cannot have beauty without truth. Art cannot have truth without goodness … A statue honoring child sacrifice has no place in Texas.”