not surprisingly, Last week tonight host John Oliver wasted no time in addressing the topic that has been at the forefront of the news cycle since Friday: the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wadethe landmark ruling that made abortion legal in 1973.
On Sunday’s edition of his HBO program, Oliver said the move was “absolutely appalling” as about half of the 50 U.S. states are likely to ban abortion.
“It’s hard to endure some of the happy reactions at the moment,” Oliver said, referring to the Texas Attorney General’s office decision to close his offices Friday afternoon and June 24 as an annual holiday for the declare office. “You don’t get a holiday to celebrate the loss of rights for millions of people if you already have one, and it’s called Columbus Day,” Oliver said.
He also took note of former Vice President Mike Pence’s statement, which reads in part, “Today, life has won.” Oliver said, “[This] It is quite difficult to accept, as forced pregnancy can be a death sentence for some, especially disabled people and other vulnerable groups. “
He also shot down arguments from supporters of the reversal that adoption or an abortion in a state where it is allowed are “reasonable” alternatives.
“Even when it’s planned, pregnancy, the best case scenario, is a major medical event that tears open your buttocks, tears out your organs and then puts you wrong,” he said, adding: “The idea that you can simply have another abortion looking in another state insulted on his face even before you think that some legislators are already openly looking for ways to punish abortions outside the state. ”
Oliver also argued that it does not go back to the “pre-gnaw days, ”as some people have said, but instead it is actually“ uncharted territory ”since in states where abortion will now be banned, any loss of pregnancy can be investigated as a criminal act. This means that investigators could gain access to electronic data, search history, text messages and the like if they suspect that someone had an abortion – something that was obviously not available before the 1973 decision.
“What the Supreme Court has just done is extremely devastating,” Oliver said, adding: “The message the Supreme Court is sending is pretty clear: we do not care if pregnancy kills you, we do not care if you do not. If you want to get pregnant, we do not care about you at all. ”
He added that the response from pro-choice politicians has been disappointing, ranging from asking for donations from supporters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reading poetry.
“When they get low, we ask for $ 15,” Oliver believed, twisting on the famous quote from former first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.