*Quotes used are from memory, as I watched Episode 1810 of Saturday Night Live on November 6th.*
In lieu of the recent decision on the Senate 8 bill made by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, there has been a large spike in celebrities using their platforms as a form of political advocacy. This action has been gaining some serious momentum since the Black Lives Matter protests restarted back in late May of 2020. It started with internet celebrities on TikTok and Twitter; however, it has finally made its way to television, live television that is.
On Saturday, November 6th, 2021, the nine-year running cast member of Saturday Night Live, Cecily Strong took her seat next to Michael Che and Colin Jost on the “Weekend Update” as “Goober the Clown who had an abortion when she was twenty-three.” Out of the gate, audiences knew that it was going to be a very touchy segment, and Cecily took the time to acknowledge this but informed watchers that this would not stop Goober the Clown from talking about it on live television. As she is telling the story of Goober the Clown’s “clown abortion,” she recounts several events that happened that day, including being asked by her doctor if she got pregnant on her way to the clinic because she wasn’t very far along.
It’s very obvious in her mannerisms that she isn’t terribly comfortable with talking about it, thus dressing as a clown to “make it more palatable;” however, she states that she’s going to anyway because it’s all people seem to want to talk about, even though it is her “own personal clown business.” After an attempt from Colin Jost to give Cecily an exit, Strong shuts down the offer and continues to say (after taking a large inhale from a helium balloon), “I would not be a clown on TV here today if it weren’t for the abortion I had the day before my twenty-third birthday.”
After stating what seemed to be the hardest part of her monologue, she began to warm the hearts of women and other people with uteruses everywhere by telling them just how common and normal it is to have an abortion. She ends the segment by saying that “clowns have been helping each other end their pregnancies since the caves. So, it ought to be safe, legal, and accessible. We will not go back to the alley. I mean, the last thing anyone wants is a bunch of dead clowns in an alley.”
Though the topic may have seemed morbid, it is just a glimpse at what people who have had or have even considered abortions feel. It was tremendously necessary and brave of Cecily to share her story with literal MILLIONS of people around the world. Personally, from a woman in Texas, I want to thank Cecily for EVERYTHING she did Saturday nigh!