Comedian Louis C.K. is making headlines after he tackled the ever contentious issue of abortion in his recently aired Netflix special, making jokes, quips and proclamations that some conservatives see as being explicitly “pro-life” in nature. He doesn’t appear to take a stand on the issue, but he certainly takes the opportunity to mock both sides.
The comedic bit started with Louis C.K. opening his “2017” special by saying women shouldn’t get abortions unless they need them, and that not getting a needed abortion is akin to not defecating — a comment that quickly captured the audience’s attention.
“I think abortion is exactly like taking a s***. I think it is 100 percent the exact same thing,” he said, before switching gears. “Or it isn’t. It is or it isn’t. It’s either taking a s*** or it’s killing a baby. It’s only one of those two things. It’s no other things.”
And Louis C.K. wasn’t done there. Here’s a transcript of some of his commentary that followed:
So, if you didn’t like hearing that it’s like taking a s***, you think it’s killing a baby. That’s the only other one you get to have, which means you should be holding a sign in front of the place. People hate abortion protestors. ‘They’re so shrill and awful. They think babies are being murdered.’ What are they supposed to be like? ‘Uh, that’s not cool. … I don’t want to ruin their day as they murder several babies all the time.'” […]
I don’t think it’s killing a baby, I don’t. I mean, it is. It’s a – it’s a little bit – it’s a little bit killing a baby. It’s a little bit. It’s a 100% killing a baby. It is – it’s totally killing a whole baby, but I think that women should be allowed to kill babies. They should be allowed to kill babies. I just think it has to be one or the other. You know, like when people say, ‘Abortion should be legal, safe and rare.’ Why rare if it should be legal? If it should be legal it’s s****ing. If it should be rare, it’s murdering babies.
The comedian’s abortion quips have made headlines over the past few days, with some speculating that they were references to pro-life sentiment. Live Action News wrote, “While at first glance, it seemed that he was making light of abortion, it soon became obvious that his comments were more pro-life than pro-abortion.”
Watch this portion of the opening below (caution: strong language):
But Newsbusters noted that there have been a variety of reactions to the comedy bit among reporters and liberals, alike. Vogue writer Julia Felsenthal, for instance, seemed confused by Louis C.K.’s abortion jokes, writing that he opened his show with “a meandering exploration of the abortion debate.”
In the end, though, she wrote that Louis C.K. ” seems ultimately to settle on the idea that he’s pro-choice, on a double premise that has very little to do with the interest of the mother: 1) life is generally way overrated; and 2) women have a unique responsibly to serve as goalies for the species.”
And the reflections don’t end there. Yahoo! TV’s Ken Tucker saw the commentary in Louis C.K.’s bit as being pro-choice in nature. He wrote, “Whichever Fox News talking-head finally hears about this bit, which continues in an exceedingly blunt way of saying that women should control their own bodies — I’m guessing it’ll be Bill O’Reilly — will probably heap outrage upon the comedian.”
As it turns out, the Netflix stand-up special isn’t the first time the comedian has made these abortion jokes. Either way, it’s clear people are walking away with starkly different perspectives regarding what, exactly he was trying to accomplish.
And perhaps that was Louis C.K.’s intent, as The New York Times said the comedian is “less interested in telling us what he thinks about abortion than in dramatizing confusion and anxiety about it.” The outlet added that Louis C.K.’s “formally clever bit doesn’t argue for or against abortion as much as it mocks the parameters of the debate surrounding it.”
See the entire bit for yourself here (again, strong language).
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