Sarah Silverman Causes Uproar With “Quickie Abortion” Post

International   |   Susan Michelle Tyrrell   |   Apr 16, 2012   |   11:01AM   |   Washington, DC

Despite the fact that sarcasm takes little genius, it’s often hailed as a pinnacle of humor. But unlike satire, which displays genuine wit, plain old sarcasm is more a display of anger.

It’s really not that hard to make fun of someone, which is why comedienne Sarah Silverman took an easy route to offer her commentary on abortion and pro-life laws. What she did was offer up a cruel take on a genuine fear the abortion industry has—that Roe v. Wade might actually be overturned soon. Left without actual argument, Silverman and others have resorted to tactics like her joke which she chose to make public to well over two million followers this weekend when she said:

Got a quickie aborsh in case R v W gets overturned.

The tweet was accompanied by a picture which was supposed to show a pregnant Silverman with a baby belly, then a “post-abortive” Silverman with a flat belly.

While a quick review of Silverman shows her to have years of tacky abortion jokes, this one crosses the line. Many pro-abortion folks hailed her as witty and one broadcast labeled it as heroic, but the truth is it displays fear and cowardice, at best, and insensitivity at worst.

Consider this: Those of us who are pro-life believe that an unborn baby is a person, but also many women on both sides live with regret for their abortions. I have friends who have had abortions and still defend the right to have them, but who live in pain from having done it.

Silverman’s “joke” is cruel. Disguised as an attack on Republicans, it is actually a display of intolerance and prejudice, the likes of which would never be lauded if she made a joke about taking in an African-American slave or pulling off a Muslim hijab (the head covering). Can you imagine the backlash if she’d said:

“Quickie slave purchase in case Emancipation Proclamation passes”?

It’s a baffling and disturbing thing that we have a society in which it’s okay to display such hatred toward not only a group but an unborn baby because of a fear.

However, it also shows that there is a very real threat to Roe v. Wade. Jokes like this emerge from fear. Silverman reveals her real heart in her crass language and shock factor comments. She may be a famous comedienne, but the truth is, there’s nothing funny about abortion, even, usually, for those who support it. Her comment does a disservice even to her own insert. It shows abortion as a birth control method and a lightly made decision. While those who support her argue it actually hows how “ridiculous” the thinking of pro-lifers is to accuse those who support abortion of those motives, there isn’t enough wit or satire contained in the tweet to carry the message she hoped to convey. Instead it falls as flat as her post-abortive stomach in the picture.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

It’s a sad testament of a society that tolerates intolerance because it supports the cultural norms of a vocal group, but this is what we have here. If it were any other people group targeted for such mockery, the media would be all over her to apologize. While that’s not likely to happen, it remains tragic that society can embrace such “humor” without regard for either the babies who are the object of the jokes, or, worse yet, the women who have lived in pain and regret as a result of abortion.

Truly, Silverman has chosen to pick on the most helpless even as she claims to be picking on legislators. She certainly has a right to free speech and open tweets, but likewise, we have a right to call it what it is, mockery of sacred life which displays her lack of value for life in general. By its very definition, tolerance must run two ways, and, for Ms. Silverman, clearly there’s no room for that.

LifeNews Note:  Susan Michelle Tyrrell is the editor of Bound4Life’s blog.