NEW YORK - Celebrity gossip fans were expressing a deep-rooted aversion to abortion when they tra... Birthing Britney irks pro-

NEW YORK - Celebrity gossip fans were expressing a deep-rooted aversion to abortion when they tracked Britney Spears' pregnancy last year, believes artist Daniel Edwards, explaining the impetus that led to his sculpture of her in labour, Monument To Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston.

While the mix of celebrity, sex and a button-pushing issue is garnering attention for the artist, family values groups are keeping their distance.

Angry e-mails are also pouring into the Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery in Brooklyn, where the sculpture will be on show from April 7 to 23. Many are angry at the choice of Ms. Spears as a role model.

So could it be that Mr. Edwards -- far from trying to promote anti-abortion and family values issues -- is actually spoofing them? He insists his intentions are honourable.

But surely he questioned her mothering skills when he saw recent paparazzi pictures showing her driving with her baby on her lap? "When I grew up, your dad would drive with you on his lap," said the 40-year-old artist. "There were no seat belt laws when I was a kid."

For Mr. Edwards, however, the 24-year-old was the perfect subject. He worked from resources that included a wax figure of her pole-dancing in Las Vegas.

"I searched for other candidates, but anyone more wholesome was older. She sacrificed her career at a young age to have a child, and that meant a lot to me," he said.

Using Ms. Spears meant he had to take artistic licence. For a start, she delivered by caesarean section. Medical experts also point out the sculpture depicts her in an unlikely position for giving birth.

"It's not in my taste," said Jeanne Head, president of the Manhattan Right to Life Committee, which Mr. Edwards contacted to obtain anti-abortion literature.

Said John-Henry Westen, editor of LifeSiteNews.com, a conservative family values group in Canada, "It's a farce to suggest that this is pro-life. You get unwanted babies through the type of promiscuous sex celebrities like Britney Spears portray through their acts."

"We're a little confused by the mixed message of a pro-life statue depicting the skin of a dead animal being used as a birthing mat," said Bruce Wieland, spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

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