Yesterday, Sarah Silverman decided to go for a joke and a political statement all at once. Unfortunately abortion jokes don't really make for the best comedy. Both sides of the abortion issue are pretty serious about their position and I'm not sure this is where jokes really have a place. Whether a person is pro-choice or pro-life, the decision to have or not have an abortion is serious too and Sarah seems to just make a joke about how it is quick and easy and I think someone who is pro-choice and has an abortion would still not feel as sunshiny about it as Sarah makes it. There are so many things to joke about in the world, and perhaps this should be one that is left alone.
Long ago she crossed the line with: "Those laws mandating a 24-hr wait bothered me, but they do make sense. Because the other day, I wanted to have an abortion. I really, really, really wanted an abortion! ... Turns out, I was just thirsty." That was years ago, back when she was first becoming big, about the time when the whole "you can't say that" thing arose about her Asian joke.
ReplyDeletecomics never know where the line is, so it's hard to flog them for doing what they are compelled to do. But people will flog away.
ReplyDeleteShe is an acquired taste you either get her or you don't.
I love her comedy and think she is sharp.
she is such an unfunny asshole.
ReplyDeleteI give her props for being super ballsy (in general), but this... yikes. Stopped watching her show when I realized I cringed more than I laughed. She can be so funny, she can also be beyond crass.
ReplyDeleteShe crosses the line too much for me, I think that is not funny at all.
ReplyDeleteI do find her very funny other times though. IDK
Agree with the ballsy part but STFU Sarah Silverman. Not cool bro.
ReplyDeleteI am much more offended by the Republican attempts to turn back women rights by fifty years.
ReplyDeleteYES @m.
ReplyDelete@M that's what people can't see she is making a comment about women's rights in a sharp way. But people will pounce becuase they can't see past their own emotional issues.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. When someone says "Both sides of the abortion issue are pretty serious about their position," it sounds like the perfect time to bring some levity to the situation.
ReplyDeleteWas it a classy thing to do? No. But as a comedian, part of her job is to bring very serious people down a peg or two.
I don't think the best way to make a valid point is too cover it in piss-em-off. Tends to get lost. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought she was extremely annoying. The only funny bit she's ever done was the "I'm f--king Matt Damon" video and Matt Damon was still the best part.
ReplyDelete*to
ReplyDeleteI agree with @m.
ReplyDeleteComedians are such dark and tortured souls. I don't care for this one.
ReplyDeletei have long been a sarah silverman fan, i am pro-choice, and i have had an abortion. This went a little far, i found humor was a good way for me to get out of the funk i was in after i had mine & she was a big help, but i just find this very crass.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Lindsey. There's nothing easy about terminating a pregnancy. I am pro-life and it bothers me how "some" lifers think that women who have abortions easily come to that decision.
ReplyDeleteI don't think she's saying it's too quick n easy; I think she is satirizing those that believe women are slutting it up and using abortion as birth control. Like timbob said, "she's commenting on women's rights in a sharp way" - at then end of the day men in power want women and every other minority with as few rights as possible - why? They truly believecwecare beneath them and do not know any better. "oh stupid me, I got pregnant, I guess I'll just have a quick, easy, free and painless abortion!"
ReplyDelete@Janine, right on! Also, SS's book "Bedwetter" is funnier than "Bossypants."
ReplyDeleteI am a woman. And I often vote Republican. And I am pro-choice and respect the decisions made by others. If you choose to have an abortion, go for it. That can't be an easy decision. I think the political outrage that Republicans are trying to hold down women is laughable. Honestly, when I vote, the last thing on my mind is abortion. I'm really more concerned about the economy, education, our taxes and our safety.
ReplyDeleteSarah Silverman has every right to do her comedic bits as she chooses. I'm sure she loves the attention from offending people. Whatever.
She has no class whatsoever.
ReplyDeletei never thought that the abortion was funny or cool and i'm pro-choice
ReplyDeleteI feel that abortion is a very serious thing and should only be used in extreme circumstances, such as rape. I don't think abortion should just be another choice a woman makes; deciding what's for dinner-that's a choice. But an abortion, that's a baby.
ReplyDeleteoops! only old ass, wrinkled white males OFTEN republican love holding women down!
ReplyDeletein other news, susan g. komen is back to quietly funding planned parenthood. i guess they got the message clear that women's health issues are not to be politicized.
Waaaa a comic was offensive!
ReplyDeleteWaaaa I never want to see or read anything I don't agree with!
Really?
The citizens of this country are turning into a bunch of pussies.
I agree with m. What Republican lawmakers are doing to abort the rights of women is actually disgusting and offensive to me, not what some comedian says.
ReplyDeleteI am pro-choice, had an abortion a long time ago, and it pisses me off to no end how so many think we women are so silly that we skip to the clinic for alternative birth control. It's an insult to women everywhere. Not one women makes this decision lightly. And altho I am not at all sorry I did it, to this day 35 years later I still ponder over mine and have "what-ifs" moments.
ReplyDeleteKeep your religion out of my body, it's mine.
Amen. Every women I have known who has had an abortion has thought long and hard about whether it was the right thing to do. But please, stay out of my uterus. and by stay. out that is directed to politicians.
DeleteBeing concerned about education, then voting Republican, seems really fucking stupid. Slashing funds to schools/trying to get rid of the Department of Education is a pretty silly way to show you care about education.
ReplyDelete@Janine, I'm with you 100%. If someone is offended by this joke, I'm pretty sure it's because they don't understand it/her.
Yes, the Repugs don't want the masses too smart for their own good. I'm so disgusted by the entire US Congress, but the extreme right-wing conservatives scare me.
ReplyDeleteI've never had an abortion, but I am pro choice. A woman should have the right to decide this for herself. It's between her, her conscience and her God.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Department of Education I think the states should regulate their education programs. As it is now teachers spend more time filling out forms and getting kids to pass tests for federal dollars. They have no time for teaching and the sorry state of education in this country and our lack of well educated young people is the proof.
And now way off topic, but funny,
is this quote from Adam Shankman in this weeks EW about Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages..."At an age when people are starting to play junior senators , he's is assless chaps."
Clearly they let him wear his own wardrobe on set.
It's a pretty offensive joke but I think it's funny. I don't know if she's as much taking on women's issues as she's making fun of how her belly can look pregnant one moment and flat the next. Mine can do that, as I'm sure many of yours can.
ReplyDeleteSo it's funny and tasteless. That's what makes it funnier. To me.
Enty said "there are so many things to joke about in the world, and perhaps this should be one that is left alone." Yes.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing funny about abortion.
I never liked her. But she was joking whatever.
ReplyDeleteNo abortion is not funny, but the current politics around it and contraception are hilarious (and very very very sad). Forcing a procedure on me while going on CNN and telling Obama not to force healthcare on the country is such a joke.
ReplyDeleteAs for letting the states run education? Yeah, that's a good idea as Tennessee passes laws allowing their teachers to question well established science and present them as fiction. Here's one simple law: teach religion in church, teach science in school.
I don't think this is about comedy, but being offensive. I don't find SS funny, but a 40 something woman who wants to act like she is a high school jock.
ReplyDeleteI am pro-choice and more liberal than conservative, but I find nothing subtle or humorous about this schtick.
It always strikes me that SS is more about garnering attention than using satire to inform.
Look at one of my faves, Eric Bogosian, he has a wonderful monologue entitled "Sorry I'm a Man." It makes me squirm AND laugh because of its honesty. There has to be an inherent honesty for this type of stuff to work and with SS it's just not there.
I'm only offended by her lack of new material. That was a reach.
ReplyDeleteI don't care for Sarah Silverman, but I have no problem with her making jokes about abortion. I just wish they were funnier.
ReplyDeleteHow do we get rid of the term "pro-life" people that are anti abortion? do they think that I'm anti life because I'm pro choice? why don't we just call them what they are "anti choice" and be done with it, because I'm pretty sure everybody is pro-LIFE
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hate the insinuation that those who support abortion are anti-life. I'm perfectly comfortable with calling them anti-choice if that's how they want to play.
Delete*for people
ReplyDeleteHer thing is tweaking people - and in this case, people who need to be tweaked. I don't think abortion is a laughing matter - and I believe all life, even potential life should be considered precious, but let's face it, the abortion issue is not about preserving life, but controlling women. Too many of the same people who get their panties in a wad about abortion are the same people who cheered on "Shock and Awe" and support the death penalty. "Pro-life", my ass. Invisible gods and fetuses are easy to love kill for, but real people who aren't white, Christian or male? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteAgree with @m
ReplyDeleteand Timebob- good point
omg Rickatoo- MARRY ME
ReplyDelete"How do we get rid of the term "pro-life" people that are anti abortion? do they think that I'm anti life because I'm pro choice? why don't we just call them what they are "anti choice" and be done with it, because I'm pretty sure everybody is pro-LIFE."
^^^THANK YOU
I prefer the terms pro-reproductive rights and anti-reproductive rights
The pro-life term was created purely to make us pro-choicers look like we dont give a shit about life.
fuck those people hard
Actually, pro and anti reproductive rights are better descriptors. :-)
DeleteGross. NOT FUNNY.
ReplyDelete@m- Yes!
ReplyDeleteI'm pro-choice as well, and I find Sarah Silverman to be quite to the point this time.
To quote the late (great) Bill Hicks, in comedy "there are no lines." She can say what she wants, and you can be her fan or not. Personally, I find it distasteful when people try to censor comedians, or tell them what is or isn't funny, or work up all this outrage over something they say. It all seems a bit "Lenny Bruce obscenity charge-y" to me. The fanaticism and idiocy that springs up around abortion (on both sides) is a ripe target for good comedy, in my opinion!
ReplyDelete@Jasmine - if i agree to marry you do i get a promise ring like Angle, and then a long engagement?
ReplyDeleteperhaps you should start taking your own advice, Enty?
ReplyDeleteRickatoo- consider it done. But I will need a few years to "create" a ring for you that will end up being oddly enough a classic emerald cut shaped diamond that proves I spent the last year with my hands down my pants, not designing shit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our new name is Jasatoo.
:)
DeleteI like rickamin lol
DeleteAnd for the record I have never found SS funny at all. Just. do. not.
ReplyDeleteTo Rickatoo & all his/her fans:
ReplyDeleteIf you plan to shoe-horn everybody into one camp or the other, it wouldn't be accurate to refer to them as being either Pro-Life or Anti-Life.
It would be more appropriate to call you Indifferent-to-Life...
...as in to have such a callous, selfish, cynical view of somebody other than yourself...
...that you can so casually dismiss and/denigrate them for committing the terrible crime of not sharing your narrow ideological mind-set.
Or even be willing to exterminate their very existence simply for the sake of convenience.
This ideology would also explain why Sarah Silverman thinks she's being so clever.
^ See? Fuckin hilarious!
ReplyDeletegroup think is what's promoted here.
ReplyDeletei just love how one poster here goes apeshit over women being mistreated, etc. (see the snoop dog/ hoes into housewives thread), but turns around and flogs other females/posters for having a different point of view.
they are the be and end all of logic and reason.
http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2012/01/dr-snoop-dogg-gives-kris-humphries.html
ReplyDelete"How do we get rid of the term "pro-life" people that are anti abortion? "
ReplyDeleteI guess we need more "death panels". #channeling Sarah Silverman #ItstheRyanplanthathasdeathpanelsBTW
SS's full tweet was: 'Got a quickie aborsh in case R v W gets overturned.' She was mocking the notion that women just dash out an get abortions like it's no big thing AND reminding people that Romney has indicated he would push to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Was it crass? Of course. Was it as offensive as much of what's come out of the mouths of GOP candidates in the last six months? Not by a stretch.
(yawn) She's painfully dull. I've never quite gotten the abortion argument -- if a woman has a "right" to terminate a life, couldn't she just as easily invoked the 'it's my body' right & terminated the encounter with the sperm donor in the first place to avoid the ethical malaise? (And dont retort with the rape & incest argument -- abortion is by & large an act of convenience. Why is self control and personal discipline so difficult for people? When did we become such soulless, gutless twats?
ReplyDelete"...Or even be willing to exterminate their very existence simply for the sake of convenience."
ReplyDelete@Xian Do, I would remind you that it's not the people some call 'anti-life' who blow up medical clinics and murder doctors for performing legal procedures they don't want happening.
And why is Sarah Silverman being 'so clever'? Because she has a voice. Something people who wish to marginalize women wish she did not have.
Because, obviously, women have no right to be sexual beings. Yawn to this whole thread. God, this topic brings out the worst in people.
ReplyDeleteI am beyond SICK AND TIRED of ignorant people accusing anti-abortionists of being anti-women, stupid, cruel, Jesus freaks, paternalistic, etc. You don't know what the F*CK you are talking about. You can think that all you want, but it doesn't make it true. How do I know? Because I am one of those terrible, awful, no good, very bad anti-abortion people, and I am decidedly not anti-women (being one myself), stupid, cruel, or a zealot.
ReplyDeleteAbortion, to me and to many others, is not a religious issue at all. It is a medical issue. Embryos have heartbeats 19 days into gestation, before most women are even aware they are pregnant. So almost every single abortion kills a being with a heartbeat. Those that say these beings "aren't living yet," etc., are fooling themselves.
Also, re: "women's right to choose" -- as a Libertarian, I firmly believe that people have the right to do whatever they want as long as if doesn't interfere with anyone else. Well, I think KILLING someone pretty much interferes with them.
For these reasons, and others, I think that abortion on demand is one of the great tragedies in the history of humankind. Do I think there are some instances when abortion is necessary? Yes, but they are not common. The fact is, more than 90% of all abortions are performed for convenience's sake.
What do I advocate? Prepare to have your mind blown, because it is the antithesis of everything you like to believe about people like me: the end of abstinence-only sex education, which is a contradiction in terms; free birth control available to anyone who asks for it; increased funding to Planned Parenthood clinics that do NOT offer abortion services; open, honest education about sex in junior high and high school; and a streamlining of adoption services in this country.
I don't hate women, and I don't think MY morals have to be everyone else's. This is not a moral issue to me. So the constant bleating from people who don't know me from Adam who have the nerve to call me all manner of names and say "this is how Texshan feels" pisses me right off. F*ck off.
I am Australian and I thought her point was very clever. I have known two women who used birth control and decided to have abortions when they became pregnant in spite of their best efforts. One of them ended up in therapy for a very long time. Neither of them took the decision lightly. Neither of them wanted to affect the life of the father in a way that was not planned.
ReplyDelete@The, the right to abstain from a sexual encounter does not trump other's rights to engage in a sexual encounter. In America and Australia consenting adults can engage in sexual relations. I respect that you will not be having sexual relations in order to avoid unwanted pregnancy. What I am curious about is whether you have ever offered to take in an unwanted baby, paid for a woman's healthcare during a pregnancy she does not desire, ensure that she is not ostracised during her pregnancy. Men can get 20 women pregnant and no-one would be any the wiser, a woman cannot hide a pregnancy. Also, where do you stand on the responsibility of men?
pssst...please get over you daddy issues.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it's Jasatoo now, please keep up...
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'm not labeling anyone, whoever coined those phrases did. I'm all for life and I'm all for choice.
I believe that 99% of women that chose to have an abortion do not make the decision lightly or never think about it again which is why this joke is just inappropriate. If anything, I would think anyone whose pro-choice would be most offended bc jokes like this are what feed into extremist wanting to outlaw abortion. I personally am pro-life and NO I do not believe I should be called anti-choice bc I dont tell any other woman what she should do with her body. These are MY beliefs for MY body. We are not all crazy bible thumpers that think we're any better then the next person. But since I respect your convictions without judgment why is it ok to call me names just bc I have a different opinion? This whole thread shows exactly why Enty was right. Statements like this upset everyone, and to make matters worse it wasnt even funny.
ReplyDeleteFeralart, that was beautiful. Please get into politics and help people understand what the real issues are.
ReplyDelete@CandiCanee - then, according to those who coined the phrases, you are pro-choice. You understand that you are able to make your own decision based on your beliefs and ideals and respect the rights of others to do the same. "Anti-choice" (my term) refers to those people that feel they have the right to make my decisions for me.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point and I could never agree with telling another woman what she should do with her body and her baby. Maybe I was too stuck on what I believed pro-choice was.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo Redd Penny:
ReplyDeleteSince you're so clever and oh-so-smug & superior, answer this question:
How many people have died as a result of those blown-up clinics and murdered doctors since Roe vs. Wade?
Give up?
Seven
Yep...a whole seven people would be alive today were it not for those acts of violence people like you constantly cite as justification for your views.
Wow...that's about one death every six years! The horror!
That's almost as many people who died participating in Occupy rallies in the past eight months!
Now here's another question:
How many people would be alive today were it not for the Pro-Abortion movement?
The term "cognitive dissonance" is utterly lost on you, isn't it Redd Penny?
P.S. - How many of those seven deaths in question # 1 were either sanctioned or condoned by legitimate Pro-Life organizations?
Now how many of those 50 million deaths in question # 2 were sanctioned or condoned by abortion providers and their supporters?
@Feraltart: "What I am curious about is whether you have ever offered to take in an unwanted baby, paid for a woman's healthcare during a pregnancy she does not desire, ensure that she is not ostracised during her pregnancy."
ReplyDeleteSo, by that reckoning, people who do not believe in the death penalty should be required to take in and/or support murderers? Or people who advocate drug legalization should be required to pay for rehab for complete strangers?
I wish this blogger would stop putting post like this on an entertainment site for pete's sake. I guess blog hits are down now after the Himmmm debacle.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing fun about these topics!
On behalf of all the Jasatoo-ians blogger Unknown your point is unclear and your casual disregard and even disdain for the deaths of seven people murdered by zealot anti-reproductive rights people is disturbing and to the height of irony, considering you claim us pro-choice people sanctioned 50million deaths?!
ReplyDeleteIt's almost 3 o-clock, obviously time to pop another Lithium cocktail. whoa
While I don't find Sarah Silverman all that funny all the time, she certainly has her moments, and this was one of them. Crass? Sure! Put people are paying attention, now aren't they?
ReplyDeleteNow excuse me while I stand up and applaud feraltart.
I'm adopting feraltart, The Black Cat and Maja with a J into the Jasatoo family... we are light on children
ReplyDeleteJasmine:
ReplyDeleteRegarding your outrage over seven deaths while blithely dismissing 50 million other deaths...
Again I cite the term "Cognitive Dissonance"...
Clearly, you have no concept of it either.
Well, we are talking about her, and discussing abortion, causing a conversation and dialogue…
ReplyDeleteMaybe that was her point!
Jasaferalcatatoo with a J is hereby approved.
ReplyDeleteAt least the "pro"-lifers I know are consistent. They feel ALL life is sacred and should not be ended, even the people that don't agree with them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rickatoo for your latest comment. It finally gives me the opportunity to say this:
ReplyDeleteI am not pro-life.
I believe abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.
I, however, am also anti-hypocrite.
Hence, my comments.
Welcome to the family kids! Who wants to be Shiloh?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I understand what you felt was hypocritical in the first place, Unknown.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get why any anonymous (or loudmouth) fucker who doesn't know me or my situation can dictate what comes in or out of my body.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, if I got pregnant now, medically, I'd need an abortion. I have an iud and a condition that causes me from GETTING pregnant. So I am being responsible, but even if you do the responsible thing, accidents happen
I don't know how I could do it, but I'd have to, and it's a fact of life. I have 2 kids now, and getting pregnant could kill me. My kids having a mother trumps a collection of cells/fetus.
I am pro-life, anti-death penalty, and pro-LGBT. I don't think there's a political party that represents me, and that's worrisome to me. Perhaps I should start my own party.
ReplyDeleteUm...yeah. Just wanted to weigh in. Happy Sunday, peeps.
oh my, seems like lots of thumbs down comments here. does this portend a republican overthrow in the fall? i fear for he women of this country.
ReplyDeleteOkay...since you need it spelled out for you.
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell:
Comment # 1 (Xian Do)- "You aren't anti-life, you're indifferent-to-life"
Comment # 2 (Redd Penny)- "RRAARR!! YOU KILLED ABORTION DOCTORS & BOMBED CLINICS!!"
Comment # 3 (Me)- "seven clinic deaths = outrage
...but...
50 million abortion deaths = yawn.
This is cognitive dissonance...aka hypocrisy"
Comment # 4 (Jasmine)- "You don't care about the seven deaths? You must be mentally ill!"
Comment # 5 (Me again)- "Since you don't care about 50 million deaths, Jasmine, what does that make you? Another hypocrite"
Comment # 6 (Rickatoo)- "You pro-life people are supposed to be pro-ALL-life"
Comment # 7 (Me yet again)- "I'm not pro-life...I'm anti-hypocrite."
Any questions?
I guess I'm pro-indifferent, I'm registered independent, and I have no interest in turning back Roe V. Wade, but I don't want my tax dollars paying for it. The Gov't needs to get out of Planned Parenthood (which is 90+% privately funded) and get out of thinking they can provide adequate heathcare for everyone. They can't, not at this point. If they'de take the restrictions off the private sector, we'd all have more affordable private health insurance. It's just more popular to blame Republicans for blocking "free healthcare". Shit. We're going to end up far worse than Greece if the spending doesn't get under control.
ReplyDelete1) The tweet was a follow-up to a previous tweet, that featured the photo on the left and said "It's a burrito". Some people assumed that she was pregnant, not ballooned and congratulated her. This was her reply.
ReplyDelete2) It was done on Twitter for her followers, not broadcast on a network.
3) There were lots of jokes about abortion in her TV show. One was a story about courage, when she was nine months pregnant and asked for an abortion ("Get this thing out of me", she said at the clinic) and this is a story she tells to a young girl who's as vain as her (and who's the daughter she got from her "abortion").
The other one was a montage to her trips to the clinic, first ashamed then laughing, using Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
To Frances Parker:
ReplyDeleteIn light of the kind reply you made about me (I believe you called me "loudmouth fucker"), allow me to retort.
If you ever do indeed get pregnant, I hope you choose to abort it.
If you think that remark was hateful, just remind yourself "It's not a viable form of life".
Right?
Unknown, you seemed to have cornered the market on smug and superior. I bow to your exceptionalism.
ReplyDeleteI do know what cognitive dissonance means. It is the discomfort that comes with holding two conflicting beliefs. I am not suffering from that, thank you.
I would say that resides in those who foment violence - bombings, arson, death posters, anthrax mailings, and yes murder and attempted murder - in the name of preserving life.
And I do not accept that the fact I do not equate murdering a health care worker with abortion is hypocrisy.
If abortion were illegal would there would still have been 50 million performed in the last 40 years? Maybe, maybe not. They are safer, so the maternal death rate is down, which has saved lives. But the primary way to reduce abortions is education and access to contraception, which is sadly in jeopardy in many parts of the U.S.
Pro-choice does not equal pro-death. I wish people would understand that already.
ReplyDeleteI'm pro-choice, because I respect that others would like the right to make their own decisions. Just because I could never get an abortion for my own reasons, does not mean that another woman should not be afforded to same right to decide what is the best for her. You do not have to agree with another person's choice to respect their right to make it, just you expect people to respect your rights.
LOL at the color commentary, Unknown. I must admit I had attributed some of your posts to Xian Do (in my head) and wasn't following, although your recap is a bit disjointed. I agree, if you are against abortion because it's murder, then you shouldn't be murdering people, which is murder. That is hypocritical. If you misrepresented your true opinions in an attempt to illicit an extreme reaction then you shouldn't be surprised that you got one.
ReplyDeleteTo lighten the mood, hockey is on tv right now and I can't stop giggling at the Pittsburgh player with the name Letang.
ReplyDeleteHoly moly, what have I been missing?!!! It's extremely tense here today.
ReplyDeleteI find Sarah Silverman uninteresting and quite annoying, but you've got to admit: she's got people talking about abortion. See: above.
To Redd Penny:
ReplyDeleteI offer my sincere apologies to you.
I thought you were merely a hypocrite...but with your last comment I now understand the truth.
You're not a hypocrite; you're a full-blown sociopath.
And it's always to fall back on the "education & access is the best way to reduce abortion" canard.
Food for thought:
1) The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) was founded by a Planned Parenthood founder in 1964.
2) Roe vs. Wade legalized federally funded abortion in 1973.
3) The number of abortions performed in America each year on average is nearly twice as many performed in 1973...and nearly three times as many as in 1964.
4) Clearly education & access to contraception has done a bang-up job of reducing the number of abortions so far. (/sarc)
Re: 3)
ReplyDeleteThe number of abortions performed today is greater than what was REPORTED before Roe v Wade legalized them.
@Texshan, had to go to work so am late in replying. In Australia we do not have the death penalty, my tax dollars go towards prison. I do not do drugs, my tax dollars go towards rehabilitation. I am not religious, my tax dollars go towards religious schools. I pay taxes and some of those goes towards things I disagree with, however, I would never protest outside a religious school as I am well aware that other people who pay taxes choose to send their children to those schools. When people are doing something that is legal, I feel their rights are being violated by others who try & impose their belief system on them. I am not preventing women from attending clinics to discuss all options, including abortion. I am also not protesting outside your church demanding it be shut. I can't have it both ways, neither can you.
ReplyDeleteRickatoo:
ReplyDeleteSo how many ACTUAL abortions were performed in 1973?
If we're going to introduce hypotheticals to bolster our claims, then the pro-lifers will have won the moral high ground in this argument.
After all...hypothetically speaking...abortion kills a human life.
If a tree falls in a forest...
ReplyDeleteAre you suggesting that illegal abortions didn't occur before R v W? Are you suggesting that women didn't die from back room illegal abortions before R v W? No matter how hard you try, you can't compare factual data with incomplete/inaccurate data.
Nothing hypothetical about it, I am entitled to make my own choices about my body & life, as is everyone else... anyone that feels they are entitled to make my decisions for me is ANTI-CHOICE
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust a point of order:
ReplyDeleteTwenty-two states had legalized abortion before Roe vs. Wade in 1973...and several others were in the process of either legalizing it or at least putting it to a vote.
Abortions were essentially legal before 1973 (though admittedly not as accessible) so the stats were available.
All Roe vs. Wade did was make it federal law.
Ironically, this also gives the government the right make abortion illegal again.
Had the pro-abortion movement left well enough alone, abortion would've been legal in all 50 states by a vote of the people.
And the federal government wouldn't have had the Constitutional right to arbitrarily change that.
Support it or oppose it, Roe vs. Wade did indeed give the government the right to interfere in a woman's right to choose...whether it be to make abortions legal, illegal, mandatory, or a capital crime.
Doors swing both ways, after all.
Unknown: I do have 2 children, and they're smart, well taken care of, and awesome.
ReplyDeleteI was not calling YOU independently out. I wasn't even paying attention to your comments, honestly.
But it's good to know that someone as rigidly "pro-life" as yourself, postulates wishes of abortion on people who are not able to keep a pregnancy without risk to themselves.
I really do wonder why people think my body or anyone else's is their business? I mean opinions of not liking abortion are obviously ok, but just because you don't like green eggs and ham, doesn't mean that I shouldnt be able to partake.
Legal or not women will opt for abortions when having a baby is not an option. Why not help these women have clean, safe abortions rather than thrusting your own beliefs on everyone? You don't want an abortion, don't have one, but also don't insist everyone share your beliefs.
ReplyDelete@lutefisk exactly!
DeleteAnd all of this is why we need to be able to joke about abortion. Otherwise we end up with "discussions" like this.
ReplyDeleteJasmine & Rickatoo, I am happy to be a member if the family. Too old to be Shiloh but happy to be the madcap aunty.
ReplyDeleteLOL Frances! I guess we can put it to a vote?
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ReplyDeleteFrances Parker:
ReplyDeletePlease pull your head out of your sanctimony and pay attention
Yet again I need to point out that I am not pro-life.
I support legal abortion.
I just have a problem with hypocrisy.
And I really dislike trolls who inject themselves into threads without keeping up with the discussion.
Ha! Pot meet kettle...
ReplyDeleteHere's the statistics on abortion in America, 1909-2010:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-unitedstates.html
It appears as though in 1973 there were 294782 abortions of residents of the USA. In 1974 that number more than doubles to 716012.
Sarah Silverman had a lot of abortion jokes in Bedwetter, too. They made me cringe & this pic REALLY made me cringe, but I still enjoyed her book, overall. I am pro-choice and I agree w/ what timebob said. Most comedians out there are always pushing the envelope with something, so it didn't really surprise me at all.
ReplyDelete@Sue Ellen - Re: Donohue-Levitt hypothesis
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freakonomics.com/2005/05/15/abortion-and-crime-who-should-you-believe/
Just an interesting point of view.
ReplyDelete@Rickatoo
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see what the correlation would be if you threw poverty in the mix. I wish I had access to that data because then I could do a multivariate regression for shits.
The original book Freakanomics has a pretty in depth analysis, and later versions have discussion updated with newer info. His theory holds up over time.
DeleteI am glad this issue came up as I think this is a great medium as im sure +90% readers are women
ReplyDeleteIm happy to see that there are so many pro-choicers.
Jokes that cross the line can be funny.... but, when you cross the line simply to offend using the same sort of gag over and over, it loses it's humor.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy her comedy, but there are times when I want to yell "MOVE ON!"
Oh, and I am pro-wanted babies which is translated to pro-choice. :)
I'm more offended that people have been paying Silverman attention for the past several, several years, when there are actual funny comedians around that could use the exposure.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! "Aborsh"...we speak the same language, love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of off-topic.. I'm thoroughly confused as to how one's belly can look so drastically different in one pic to the next. I mean, she can't just be "pushing it out" in the pic on the left.. can she? Did she just lose a ton of weight in only the belly region.. and then put the same outfit on? #soconfused!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a stretch to call silverman a comedienne.
ReplyDeleteI'm pro-life, but I also believe that it's between a woman and her God and is NOBODY ELSE'S FUCKING BUSINESS.
ReplyDeleteArrrrgh!
The people who have really been getting on my nerves lately are guys like Glen Grothman, a never married nerdy white guy who thinks he's qualified to speak about single moms. NO. Just no. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Actually this didn't insult me in the slightest. Why? Because I've actually heard politicians talk about women who get abortions JUST LIKE THIS. In fact, Michelle Bachman was the one talking like, oh you get a mani-pedi, get an abortion, go out shopping as if its' no big deal. So no, to me, this isn't crossing the line but is making a satiric statement about how the issue is being presented in politics today, particularly from the anti-abortion camp. She's MAKING the statement that it's nto quick and easy and you'll be all sunshiny about it, but you should listen to the rhetoric we hear these days about it. I normally am not a Sarah Silverman fan but on this one, I got what she was trying to say.
ReplyDelete@Margaret: "Actually, pro and anti reproductive rights are better descriptors. :-)"
ReplyDeleteNo, they aren't. Far from it. I am very, very liberal re: the vast majority of reproductive rights. I am very conservative re: abortion. There are a LOT of "pro-life" or "anti-choice" (or whatever you want to call us) people like me. Abortion isn't the end-all, be-all of reproductive rights, you know. Lumping them all together is lazy and wrong.
@Feraltart, let me be sure I understand what you wrote -- in Autralia, tax dollars go to support religious schools? Why?
Also, in fact, I CAN "have it both ways." Protesting against laws has a long, proud history in the USA. You see, we used to have laws on the books that said a black man was only worth 3/5 of a white man; that women weren't allowed to vote; that alcohol was illegal; that blacks had to pass a test before being allowed to vote; that people could OWN other people, and many other horrible laws. People protested them, and they were eventually overturned. I have every right to protest and speak out against a law that I think is wrong. So does every other American citizen. I cannot speak for what goes on in Australia, as I am not familiar with your laws.
@Texshan, I don't know why our tax dollars go to religious schools.
ReplyDeleteYes we can protest laws, but I object to protesting outside legally operating entities to assert your beliefs onto someone else. Protest in the street, protest at parliament, try and join parliament, but to yell abuse, have insulting placards, and try and prevent entry to a place of business that is working within the law, that I find reprehensible.
None of the pro-lifers have addressed whether they have assisted with a woman's medical expenses, helped her keep her job, or taken on an unwanted baby.
in the pic she looks like she is 4 or 5 months, pregnant, so than she is joking about having aborted a growing baby...do they really give abortions at those months because i do not believe in that. i think this joke is not funny at all but that is her humour, which is crass and vulgar.
ReplyDeletein the pic she looks like she is 4 or 5 months, pregnant, so than she is joking about having aborted a growing baby...do they really give abortions at those months because i do not believe in that. i think this joke is not funny at all but that is her humour, which is crass and vulgar.
ReplyDeleteand they look like a happy couple showing off the growing baby inside in the first pic...(yes i know shes not really pregnant, or was she?) and then...shes all sunburnt and tanning. if that was the point she was trying to make, then perhaps she did get nail/pedi...some tanning, in excess of course, and then a 'quickie aborsh" -
ReplyDeleteTexshan said "Protesting against laws has a long, proud history in the USA. You see, we used to have laws on the books that said a black man was only worth 3/5 of a white man; that women weren't allowed to vote; that alcohol was illegal; that blacks had to pass a test before being allowed to vote; that people could OWN other people, and many other horrible laws."
ReplyDeleteExactly! Such as illegal abortion. Now it's not. Go USA
July 1, 1964 Pop. 191,888,791
ReplyDeleteJuly 1, 1973 Pop. 211,908,788
If there are 20 million more people then statistically one would predict that there would be more abortions. Unless you run a formula you cannot say that there were more per capita abortions, it's misleading.
just piping in.
@Feraltart: "None of the pro-lifers have addressed whether they have assisted with a woman's medical expenses, helped her keep her job, or taken on an unwanted baby."
ReplyDeleteNope, I haven't, beyond paying taxes that pay for welfare, low-income medical care, etc. But so what? That's not MY job. I use birth control effectively, I don't take risks with my body, and when I decided I didn't want kids I made medically sure I wouldn't be able to have them. Abortion is the only issue I can think of where people are smugly asked what THEY have done to alleviate the repercussions other people's actions, as if they are somehow responsible. Let's turn it around -- what have you, Feraltart, done to help a woman who decided to have a baby rather than abort it? Have you adopted it? Given her a job? Allowed her to move in with you?
Texshan,I am not asking women to have children they can't afford or don't want in the first place. I am childless, not by choice, my husband and I are infertile. My taxes are also used to look after other people & their children. The reason I asked that question is abortion is one of the few issues where other people smugly state they have a right to decide how other people live their lives & decide what should be done with their body. Some of the people against abortion would object to you preventing yourself from having a pregnancy. If you had been refused your operation, because of other people's objections, how would you have felt?
ReplyDeleteI am not a republican or a democrat but this stuff is out of hand.
ReplyDeleteCan't you see through this crap to the manipulation they are doing?
Abortion is a trigger word used by one side to incite women to automatically hate the other. Use that word and everything else, the economy, our depedency on foreign oil even losing our young people fighting the undeclared war in Afghanistan goes right out the window. What happened over the weekend there? Does anyone know? Of course not, we are all too busy fighting about a nonissue. Yes, the R's hate abortion and the D's want to keep it legal, but right now the Health care act is being argued in front of the Supreme Court not Roe v. Wade. The argument is whether the feds have a right to tell us what to buy, (which they do not, read the bill of rights especially the 10th Amendment), not if contraception should be legal. There is not one candidate that has said contraception should not be legal. Not one. Look at the debates, do not rely on the network news, use your own brain. We are being led around like sheep.
Works like a charm, doesn't it.
Rome is f****** burning and we sit here discussing a lousy, tasteless joke.
Again.
Feraltart, I know I am replying way too late, but here goes:
ReplyDeleteMost of the pro-choice argument I hear is that no one should tell a woman what she can and can't do with her own body.
What these people fail to understand (willfully, in my opinion) is that people who object to abortion on demand do so because they (and medical science, no matter what people would like to believe) regard a fetus as a life. An abortion is the ending of a life.
If you saw an innocent, defenseless person who was about to be killed, and did not try to prevent it or at the very least object to it, what kind of person would that make you?
So, while pro-choicers like to use the "you don't have the right to tell me what to do with my body" argument, pro-lifers believe that, in fact, society DOES or SHOULD HAVE have the right to intervene when an innocent living being is about to be exterminated. Pro-choice people apparently believe that a woman's convenience trumps a fetus's right to exist.
I want to be clear that I am NOT including abortions done in the cases of incest, severe medical abnormalities (and I don't consider Down syndrome and a host of other medical conditions severe abnormalities, BTW), or other tragic extenuating circumstances in my objection to the procedure.
I do think first-trimester abortion should remain legal, in fact, but only in those very specific circumstances. I also realize that I cannot advocate the end of abortion on demand if I do not also advocate real, pro-active sex education, free and easily accessible birth control (including Plan B), etc.
Finally, I don't know who would have tried to stop me from having a uterine ablation. Certainly no pro-life group I know of. But if they did, that would be an example, in fact, of no one having the right to make a medical decision for ME, when it only affects ME and no one else.
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