“Xenopia is a research, art and design project aimed at prototyping a domestic hormones Beta Hcg test as a tool to address reproductive justice and the right to access abortion. We will investigate the historical scientific practices around living interfaces as controlling technologies (i.e. the living pregnancy test Xenopus Leavis frog, mice, seeds). The right to access abortion is under attack and Beta Hcg testing is a mandatory test to access safe abortion but is poorly available for people living in rural areas and in marginalised conditions. Weeks of pregnancy are the playing field on which the war against access to abortion is waged, so we see in this prototype the possibility of facilitating the path autonomously by giving people back control. Collectives defending reproductive rights in countries where abortion is illegal or restricted (as Italy) and safely providing support, do not have access to this kind of easing. With an inter-species perspective, we would therefore develop this prototype and participatory workshops as political act of empowerment and concrete response to reproductive justice.”
