Leah Hayes is a writer and artist in New York City who uses drawing as a medium to express complicated concepts and understand difficult experiences.
Leah Hayes / Via Facebook: leah.hayes.180
In her upcoming comic book Not Funny Ha-Ha: A Handbook for Something Hard, Hayes illustrates the realities of medical and surgical abortions.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
“I felt like I had something to 'say' about what having an abortion looks like, and drawing is really my way of telling that story," Hayes told BuzzFeed Life in an email.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
Hayes mentioned that the illustrations offered another perspective on abortion, and helped her work out her own feelings about the subject.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
“The format might be unconventional, [but] I still want to convey a feeling of comfort and openness, while also conveying the weight of the topic," Hayes said.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
The book illustrates the experience of abortion with a narrative focusing on two fictional characters, 23-year-old Mary and 31-year-old Lisa.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
One character will undergo a medical abortion by taking a medication at home, and the other will undergo a surgical abortion procedure at the hospital.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
Hayes covers the technical and medical aspects of abortion as well as the deeply personal thoughts and steps that many people go through.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
"I spoke to a wide range of people — women and men — about their experiences with abortion," said Hayes. "I also spent a lot of time alone: thinking, writing, and reflecting ... trying to understand my own feelings and express them in drawing form."
Such as reaching out to someone you trust and finding support through friends.
Fantagraphics Books
And knowing what really happens to your body.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
"Writing this book was not intended to lighten the subject of abortion, define 'right or wrong,' or make it trivial in any way," Hayes said.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
While Hayes isn't trying to answer questions about abortion, she hopes the book expresses a version of something many people choose to do.
Leah Hayes / Via Fantagraphics Books
"I hope lots of women and men get to read it: I do mean it to be for everybody," said Hayes. "I'd like people to see it as one illustrator's interpretation of something very complicated and important."
