Amy Schumer, a notoriously pro-abortion actress, is currently starring in the comedy-drama series “Life & Beth” on Hulu… and a recent episode tried, and failed, to turn abortion into a laughing matter.
On the show, Schumer’s character, Beth, is pregnant, but takes her friend Jess to get an abortion. “Yes. We always wanted to be pregnant at the same time,” Beth says as they walk through a crowd of protesters. “I’m having a geriatric pregnancy; you’re having a geriatric abortion.”
Beth is visibly pregnant, and as they arrive at the facility, protesters heap abuse on her, thinking Beth is the one getting an abortion. As Jess thanks Beth for “taking the heat” for her, Beth then apologizes for “stealing her thunder.”
Inside the abortion facility, Jess and Beth meet the abortionist, a woman wearing a hijab… which immediately leads Jess to believe they are at a pregnancy resource center (PRC) when she’s told she needs an ultrasound before the abortion. “Is this a trick? You show me my baby and I change my mind?” Jess says. “Because you can’t make me keep it. I already have two kids and I don’t like either of them much.”
Culturally, PRCs are often derided as “fake clinics” which only exist to lie to women and trick them into an unwanted pregnancy. In reality, PRCs offer much-needed resources services to women and families, including things like pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, but also parenting education and child care, as well as tangible items like diapers, clothing, cribs, and strollers, and much more.
Jess then has an odd exchange with the abortionist in which she expresses confusion over a Muslim abortionist, and slams marriage as the end of your life.
Jess: Okay. I just… I got worried that I might’ve accidentally booked one of those religious places because… Just…
Abortionist: Oh. Yes, I understand that my hijab can be confusing. I believe in a woman’s right to choose. What she would like to wear and whether she would like to be pregnant.
Jess: Wow. I just… I never really met someone like you before.
Abortionist: You’ve never met a Muslim before? There are, like, two billion of us in the world.
Jess: Not where I’m from. Sorry! I’m so thrown by your headscarf. It’s kind of like seeing a celebrity, but somewhere you don’t expect. Like Emily Blunt in a Duane Reade.
Abortionist: Muslims, they’re just like us. Let’s go over the procedure.
Jess: Okay, yeah, let’s.
Abortionist: So, we’re gonna give you some meds. You’re gonna be partially sedated. And don’t worry, you’re not gonna feel a thing, and you’re not gonna remember any of it.
Jess: Okay. Can you give me something like that for the last few months of my life? Sorry. Years, actually. Honestly, this would’ve never happened if my friend hadn’t wheeled away while I was peeing in the alley…
Abortionist: Let’s return to the procedure. So, it’s gonna take less than 15 minutes, and then you’re gonna have a bit of time to rest before you go home. Do you have any questions?
Jess: No, but here’s some advice. Don’t get married. You’ll never have sеx again. And when you do, it will be like a chore you have to schedule on the family calendar, like a dental cleaning. You’ll never feel wanted or desired in the same way.
Strangely, the abortionist reassures Jess before beginning the abortion that the anesthesia will mean the procedure is just like “taking a nap,” and the two then sing Britney Spears’ “Toxic” before beginning.
Interestingly, though Jess seemed sure about wanting the abortion and hating her life as a married mother, she was also noticeably emotional as the abortion was about to begin. And far from a gentle nap, a suction abortion — the most frequent surgical abortion procedure committed in the first trimester — can be incredibly painful and traumatizing. As one woman described:
From the very second the pain began, I held back my screams. He told me that I couldn’t move or else I would never be able to have children again. Some screams exited my mouth from the amount of pain. The nurse put her hand over my mouth and told me to be quiet because I would scare the other patients. I squeezed the nurse’s hand so tight that it started turning purple. My body had a rush of heat go through me, and then I was freezing. As he was cutting through my cervix and scraping my uterine walls, the sounds that I heard will never leave my memory. This took about fifteen minutes.
Amy Schumer has long been an outspoken abortion advocate, including attempting to make abortion funny on numerous occasions. In one stand-up comedy routine, she joked, “There’s nothing more awkward than going to the first birthday party of a little girl when you told her mom to get rid of her — because the kid can tell.” She’s also compared abortion to liposuction, and created a fake Colorado tourism ad featuring abortion. It’s not surprising, then, that she would take the opportunity to promote abortion again on her new show.
