Abortion Ruling: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

and our first story tonight concerns the fact that this week saw the leak of a draft opinion written by justice samuel alito that looks set to strike down roe v wade and while the fate of roe may not have been a surprise the draft itself was still a horror show the 67 page draft opinion is clear sharp and scornful declaring in its opening paragraphs that roe versus wade must be overruled and that the 1972 ruling was egregiously wrong from the start the leader dismisses the argument in roe versus wade that the right to choose abortion is part of the constitutional guarantee of liberty and privacy insisting the inescapable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation's history and traditions okay but even if that were true which by the way off the framers probably left off the specific right to abortion because they couldn't anticipate it being such a massive concern i don't know why these particular individuals didn't have abortion on the forefront of their minds there must have been some explanation i just can't quite place the exact reason but it is on the tip of my penis and look alito wasn't just deferring to the constitution he repeatedly cited some other notable sources too like 17th century jurist sir matthew hale who once described abortion as a great crime but that is not all that hale thought he also argued that a husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed upon his wife sentenced two women to death for witchcraft and argued young women were the ruin of families because they and i quote learn to be bold and talk loud and while those beliefs might only weigh netflix comedy special called trigger this they should absolutely disqualify you as a scholarly reference on a matter of reproductive rights and look this is not the first time that we've talked about abortion on this show in fact the first time that we talked about it in depth we rewarded anyone for sticking to the end of our story with a video of sloths playing in a bucket that was almost criminally joyful and if you're expecting something similar this time i've got some bad news for you those sloths are dead now all of them two from heroin it's time to grow up because we need to be able to talk about abortion like adults because when as now seems inevitable this ruling becomes official there will be immediate and devastating consequences and it is worth taking some time tonight to talk about a few things what this ruling means how we got to this point and where we go now and when it comes to what this means it's catastrophic it'll quickly trigger bounds on abortion in these 22 states and if you are still unaware of just how ubiquitous a procedure this is an estimated 25 percent of women have an abortion and six in ten of them are already parents some who get abortions are survivors of rape or incest others might need one for medical reasons but also just to be clear some will be seeking an abortion because they want one and this is very much about them too this is a fight for people's right to have control over their bodies it's about bodily autonomy and the only time it's okay to argue against that is if the body in question belongs to el mog because then it is actually fine he literally cannot function unless someone else is armed him from below but anything beyond that example is just not okay and some conservatives have argued that the reaction this week has been hysterical that this is just returning the issue to the states and the people do still have a choice this is not an opinion by the way that is going to undo abortion in this country states may put some more restrictions on it but people have the right to leave they can go live somewhere else where it's more of a free-for-all and they can do whatever they want okay first where it's more of a free-for-all let's just get one thing straight if you move to delaware you're not in some bacchanalian buy one get one free abortion paradise you're just in wilmington i just don't want anyone to be disappointed when they visit but also it's not about merely having the right to go somewhere else it's about whether you have the resources and ability to do that and many may not with this disproportionately affecting those with disabilities or who are transgender immigrants or people of color and the thing is even with just the existing laws that have been recently passed abortions had become increasingly difficult to get just watch as one woman in texas learned what getting an abortion would entail for her after her state passed its so-called fetal heartbeat law last year you're measuring at 6.1 weeks today but we do see fetal cardiac activity on ultrasound so as of september 1st in texas what that means is that you are ineligible to have an abortion in the state of texas right now your next options would be traveling out of state to get the procedure done i didn't even know that i was pregnant i kind of just took a test i'm six weeks and one day pregnant i'm not ready to have another kid i have two other little ones that i take care of by myself um so this kind of was very unexpected other forms of birth control failed me and now it looks like i'm jumping through more hoops in order to keep our lives going six weeks and a day and she can't get an abortion for most people that is a period that is two weeks late and your period could be two weeks late for any number of reasons maybe you're tired or traveling or you had a change in diet or exercise or maybe you're just dealing with the stress of living in a misogynistic theocracy run by five of the biggest weirdos in the country including justice beerpong here and justice my wife helped plan a coup and all i got was no consequences whatsoever now in that woman's particular case she was able to take a loan and drive all the way to oklahoma to get an abortion and as awful as this sounds she was actually lucky there because now that is no longer possible just this week oklahoma's governor signed a texas-style abortion ban into law which is officially now one of the worst things that oklahoma has ever produced and i'll remind you it also gave the world doctor phil and given given that half of those who have abortions are below the poverty line with an additional one quarter very close to it many will be facing limited options one estimate is that in the year after the ruling there'll be roughly 75 000 people who want but can't get abortions and will give birth instead and inevitably some of those people will die because pregnancy is a major medical event already those living in states with the most restrictive abortion policies and thus the least access to them were found to be more likely to die while pregnant or shortly thereafter look i know this is all extremely grim but it is now worth taking a moment on exactly how we got to this point especially as some have been telling a slightly incomplete story this week just listen to chuck schumer pointing the finger of blame firmly in one direction this isn't your grandfather's republican party america it's donald trump's republican party well hold on there because in what way is this not your grandfather's republican party it has been advocating for this exact outcome for decades now in fact i would be willing to bet that if your grandfather died in the 70s came back to life right now and scans the news the first thing he say is that the current republican party sounds exactly like the one he remembers actually i take that back the first thing he'd say is who's elon musk to which you'd say oh he's a he's a rich who wants to own twitter to which he'd say what's twitter and you'd say it's basically a massive public toilet that people their bad opinions into all day long but at least cher is on there too to which he replied oh you mean sonny's wife and you'd say yeah because you don't really have time to fill him in on the divorce much less the accident to which you'd say how's sonny doing by the way to which you say oh yeah he's great he's very healthy to which he replied does he still have the mustache and you say oh yeah you betcha because at this point you are way too deep into the lie to admit to your resurrected grandpa that sonny bono died by skiing into a tree but then after all of that conversation he'd definitely look at you and say that the current republican party sounds exactly like the one that he remembers because it does this is just not a recent development at all because while yes trump did pick one third of this court including a seat for gorsuch that was stolen for him that was the result of decades of work by anti-abortion forces long before trump ever even considered running for office conservatives were openly announcing their intention to overturn roe in fact the very day the road decision was handed down the strategizing against it had already begun just watch this news report from that day featuring a lawyer talking about a lawsuit that he was supporting that could overturn roe what about the child's right you know when you talk about the woman's right you're talking about one-third of the rights involved the mother the father and the child somebody's morality or lack of it is certainly imposed upon the unborn children who are killed wow women have one third of the rights involved honestly that is kind of perfect because if there is one thing that we love to do in america it's turned everyone who isn't a straight white man into a fraction that is something that truly is deeply rooted in the nation's history and traditions but arguments like that are why some democrats like representative bella abzug argued in the wake of the role decision that congress still needed to quickly pass legislation codifying the right to an abortion and she was absolutely right but of course they didn't do that nor did they do it as the anti-abortion movement kicked into high gear in the late 1970s with the support of evangelical leaders like jerry falwell who helped elevate the abortion issue as a way of motivating conservative voters to the polls they didn't even do it as anti-abortion legislators managed to pass a thousand restrictions into law at the state level all that time too many democratic leaders shied away from engaging in that fight or were squeamish in their defense of abortion bill clinton for instance argued that it should be safe legal and rare which cast abortion as a regrettably necessary evil not a cornerstone of comprehensive health care and while later barack obama campaigned on passing the freedom of choice act enshrining the rights to abortion into law when he was reminded of that promise a hundred days into his presidency he wasted no time distancing himself from it the freedom of choice act is not my highest legislative priority i believe that women should have the right to choose but i think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the um the anger surrounding this issue uh is to focus on those areas that we can agree on okay except that's just ridiculous partly because this is something a majority of americans do agree on polls consistently show that around two-thirds of americans support the roe v wade decision two-thirds presidents can't even get an approval rating that high unless there are like two 911s it's called in 1822 and if we're honest it might actually be coming and that is sadly been emblematic of democrats approach offering vague statements in support while abortion has been specifically under attack and all the while republicans have focused on this issue with relentless determination here is jerry falwell right after alito was appointed to the court taking a victory lap following a ruling that upheld the ban on a specific abortion procedure that is the culmination for me of about 35 years of work i don't think we have five votes on roe v wade i think we're probably one or two votes short as we talked that last week of his life falwell seemed to recognize that his battle to end all abortions would have to be won by the next generation of god's warriors my children are more likely to see this this victory one than i am i think we're 50 years away we've got to stay with it stay with it stay with it and never give up wow even the truly magnificent sight of jerry falwell in a coffin somehow still doesn't make that go down any easier because falwell was actually pessimistic in his prediction there they achieved that victory 35 years ahead of his 50-year schedule and that's actually not the only thing that he was wrong about in that interview because he also said that he'd been praying for another 20 years of life despite only having about one week of it left so i guess at the very least we now know that god didn't want to listen to any more of jerry falwell's either and it is important to know conservatives aren't remotely done here they've already embarked on the next fight with louisiana just this week advancing legislation that would allow prosecutors there who to charge those who get abortions or provide them with homicide that bill like anti-abortion legislation in several other states even defines personhood as beginning from the moment of fertilization which would arguably criminalize in vitro fertilization and forms of birth control and all of this is happening even as other countries are expanding reproductive rights even ireland is now more progressive on abortion than some u.s states and if you are not up on your irish history that was not always the case and that is as much as i will weigh in on irish history because i sound like this and it's it's not just ireland other predominantly catholic countries like argentina mexico and colombia have also significantly expanded abortion rights just two months ago colombia won a massive court victory there two huge celebrations this is historic it brings us such happiness because little by little we are changing our history we finally succeeded in having them allow us to decide over our bodies we fought for this for many years and clandestine abortions took the lives of so many women that is truly inspiring to watch and also quick shout out to the individual who made a crocheted ski mask with the letters a cab let this be a lesson that you absolutely don't want to with someone who has the patience attention to detail and sustained anger to crochet their resentment into a handmade garment that is stamina that is someone in the fight for the long haul so clearly we in the states have a lot of work to do right now right now both in the short and the long term and let me start with those in the most immediate danger people who need an abortion in states where bans are or are about to be in effect you still have options available to you and one good way to find out what they are is to go to the website i need an a.com it has lots of info including what is permitted where you live and where you can find clinics and appropriate resources and if you're struggling financially one of those resources might be an abortion fund which can help cover your expenses if you want to access or support one of those funds there are lots of them out there like the brigid alliance which helps abortion patients who are traveling long distances to reach their appointments and the lilith and yellow hammer funds both of which help people on the ground in impacted states but these are clearly just stop gap solutions to deal with an immediate crisis long term we need elected officials to stop tiptoeing around the issue of abortion and take steps to properly safeguard it now the dream version of this would be a constitutional amendment that will support people's fundamental rights to make personal decisions about contraception pregnancy marriage and family life but until then we're going to need other legislation at the state and federal level and while we're at it we may now also need to show up all the other rights supposedly guaranteed by supreme court rulings from voting rights to gay marriage because the fact is under the current supreme court your basic rights today could become crimes tomorrow and there are actually some small opportunities for you on the horizon and at least these four states abortion is going to be on the ballot this year and i know you would probably rather eat shards of glass than be told to vote one more time especially if you've been keeping up your end of the deal showing up to the polls and holding your nose to vote for a candidate you may not even like while enjoying thousands of texts screaming it is the most important election of your lifetime donate 20 to the dnc right now and you didn't text stop to quit once no matter how much you wanted to and you wanted to throw your phone in the river and look i also get why just vote is an infuriatingly insufficient slogan when voting rights themselves are under siege i cannot defend the system we currently have but it is unfortunately the one we've got right now so electoral victories are going to be critical here but they also must be followed by concrete actions by those that we elect because republicans if nothing else just grimly demonstrated what committed action can actually achieve they never accepted roe v wade as final they played the long game and not always fairly but they rallied their base and relentlessly held their party leaders accountable whether they liked those leaders or not and then crucially those leaders delivered for them because they understood that voting is only meaningful if the people who win actually do what they promise you anti-choice advocates worked really hard for a really long time to ensure that roe would not be permanent but the thing is its undoing doesn't have to be either this week we have all been reminded of what the most marginalized people in this country have known for years that freedoms are never guaranteed they are hard-won and they are easily lost progress requires a consistent sustained struggle a willingness to disrupt everyday life and actual courage from the people that we choose to lead us in short we are all going to badly need to have the same anger and the same willingness for a long-haul fight as the world's most hardcore knitter

Channel: LastWeekTonight

Views: 5,566,628

Keywords:

Id: MalsOLSFvX0

Length: 18min 26sec (1106 seconds)

Published: Sun May 08 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/AlarmingAffect0]

Thanks, Obama

[u/filthy_kasual]

Choice quotes:

I also get why "Just Vote" is an infuriatingly insufficient slogan when voting rights themselves are under siege. I cannot defend the system we currently have but it is unfortunately the one we've got right now. So electoral victories are going to be critical here but they also must be followed by concrete actions by those that we elect.

Because Republicans, if nothing else, just grimly demonstrated what committed action can actually achieve. They never accepted Roe v. Wade as final. They played the long game and not always fairly but they rallied their base and relentlessly held their party leaders accountable whether they liked those leaders or not. And then, crucially, those leaders delivered for them because they understood that voting is only meaningful if the people who win actually do what they fucking promise you!

... This week we've all been reminded of what the most marginalized people in this country have known for years. That freedoms are never guaranteed. They are hard won and they are easily lost. Progress requires a consistent, sustained struggle, a willingness to disrupt everyday life, and actual courage from the people that we choose to lead us.

[u/Skeptical_Yoshi]

Hearing him openly state it will take resistance and disrupting daily life was surprising and great to hear.

[u/nate2squared]

Here is a transcript for those of us who can't watch this video (because it is blocked):

https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/tv-series/abortion-ruling-last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-transcript/

[u/Somecrazynerd]

Hate the region lock on LWT channel. All the videos are released a month late in Australia. I can't even watch this linked version. Let me the watch the video, christ!

[u/[deleted]]

I’m glad some people can find some humour in any of this, but I cannot. I’m in a profound state of rage and sadness, as I know that things are only going to snowball and get worse. What a fucking nightmare

[u/communistpedagogy]

It’s not rocket science as to why Dems won’t codify roe vs wade. All of our civil rights are bargaining chips for them for elections. Once you take those away there’s no reason to vote for them.

The Democrats are a right wing party. The entirety of the US Gov’t is right wing

link to tweet: https://twitter.com/abolishnato/status/1521507964888174592