“Real Time” host Bill Maher might be one of the most honest abortion supporters in America. Maher, who once shared that he was almost the victim of abortion and called himself “a little squishy” on the issue, has also said he supports it as a means of population control.
During a panel discussion on the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to uphold an 1864 pro-life law protecting preborn children from abortion, Maher went after Republicans — namely Trump — for contradictory statements made about abortion in recent months. “I mean, Trump — some of his statements on this — it sounds like what he said about healthcare: ‘Make both sides happy… 15 weeks seems to be a number people can agree.’ Can he lie his way out of this?” he asked.
Maher then pointed out what many “pro-lifers” don’t realize is erroneous about their own stance on abortion — that it’s okay for certain babies to be aborted:
NEW: Room goes silent as Bill Maher admits that he thinks abortion is murder but says he is okay with that because “there’s 8 billion people in the world.”
Yikes.
“I scold the left on when they say: ‘oh, you know what, they just hate women. People who aren’t pro-life, they… pic.twitter.com/A2ps5CNNtG
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 13, 2024
“A lot of people think [abortion is] murder,” said Maher. “That’s why I don’t understand the 15-week thing, or Trump’s plan is, ‘Let’s leave it to the states.’ You mean, so killing babies is OK in some states? I can respect the absolutist position. I really can. I scold the Left when they say, ‘Oh, you know what, they just hate women, people who aren’t pro-choice.’ They don’t hate women. [The Left] just made that up. They think it’s murder and it kind of is. I’m just okay with that. I am. I mean, there’s 8 billion people in the world. I’m sorry, we won’t miss you. That’s my position on it.”
The room went silent.
After a beat, guest Piers Morgan replied, “That’s kind of harsh.”
Maher responded, “Isn’t that your position if you’re pro-choice?”
State laws and pro-life exceptions
Maher argues that pro-lifers know abortion is murder, and he agrees that it “kind of” is — yet he also points out the false logic and lack of moral conviction of many pro-lifers who believe this sort of homicide is acceptable in certain circumstances.
This deeply flawed logic is popular. A May 2023 Gallup poll found that 51% of Americans think abortion should be legal “only under certain circumstances” and only 13% say it should be illegal in all circumstances. Forty-four percent (44%) identified themselves as pro-life and 41% call abortion morally wrong. But just 13% said abortion should always be illegal. Perhaps those 13% understand that induced abortion is intentional and direct killing, and this is never necessary, even in dire situations of medical emergency.
This means the majority of people who consider themselves to be “pro-life” don’t even believe all babies should be protected from abortion. Some of these self-proclaimed pro-lifers may support the Supreme Court’s decision to leave abortion laws up to the states, and others are accepting of so-called pro-life laws that allow only certain babies to be targeted for abortion based on their age, circumstances of their conception, or their health status. Some self-proclaimed pro-lifers have said they would support a 15-week abortion cutoff — which, in reality, fails to protect the majority of children at risk of abortion.
Others support pro-life laws that include exceptions, such as babies conceived in rape or incest, children who receive a prenatal diagnosis, or children whose mothers become ill during pregnancy, as if those children are somehow unworthy of pro-life protections.
It is (or should be) simple logic: Killing innocent human beings is wrong; abortion kills innocent human beings; therefore, abortion is always wrong. Why are only 13% of Americans following this logic when 44% consider themselves “pro-life”?
The reason Maher has “respect” for the 100%-pro-life-without-exceptions position is that it’s the only way to be truly pro-life. One can’t be “sort of” anti-abortion. Abortion is either wrong or it isn’t. There’s no middle ground. If you believe there’s a middle ground, you support abortion — which isn’t pro-life.
Abortion isn’t about choice or empowerment
Maher also points out the not-often-discussed (but very real) reason legalized abortion was pushed on the U.S.: population control. He said, “[Pro-lifers] think it’s murder and it kind of is. I’m just okay with that. I am. I mean, there’s 8 billion people in the world. I’m sorry, we won’t miss you. That’s my position on it.”
Abortion has never truly been about women’s equality or empowerment. It has always been about population control. One piece of evidence is the Planned Parenthood-produced Jaffe Report, which proposed certain tactics in an effort to curb population growth in the U.S. Those tactics included convincing Americans to avoid or postpone marriage, altering the image of the ideal family size, encouraging women to work outside the home, payments to encourage abortion, and even the coerced abortion of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. The Jaffe Report ideas were taken from sources such as the 1965 book “Too Many Americans. A sobering look at our own overpopulation crisis.” Some of these tactics have already been implemented.
A 1986 study, “Role of abortion in control of global population growth,” argued, “No nation desirous of reducing its growth rate to 1% or less can expect to do so without the widespread use of abortion. This observational study, based on the experience of 116 of the world’s largest countries, supports the contention that abortion is essential to any national population growth control effort.” It said that developed nations would need to maintain an abortion rate “in the range of 201-500 abortions per 1,000 live births” in order to maintain population growth rates below one percent.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, there were 11.6 abortions in the U.S. per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. That rate excludes data from California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. D.C. and California have no restrictions on abortion, which means the rate may be slightly higher. But if the goal was as many as 500 abortions per 1,000 live births, it’s no wonder abortion advocates are fighting tooth and nail for abortion on demand with no restrictions in as many states as possible. They are even pushing for a federal law that would force abortion on demand in every state and the removal of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents the funding of abortions for Medicaid recipients.
Americans have been killing off their children under the guise of women’s freedom and rights for more than 50 years. For those five decades and now, legalized abortion has really been about the elite controlling the population of the rest of society, namely minorities and the underprivileged. It was never about a woman’s rights; it was always about power. And pro-abortion men had (and still have) a significant role in pushing this agenda as well.
Maher, who spoke about nearly being aborted himself, said no one would miss any of the aborted children, but this isn’t true. Aborted children are missed by their mothers, their fathers, their siblings, and potentially even the friends and spouses they would have had if they had been allowed to be born — loved ones who know they are missing something or someone, but never had the chance to know who that loved one was. Abortion impacts all of society.
Once a safe harbor for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses of the world, America is now center stage for the global debate of whether or not it’s ethical to murder the most vulnerable among us. Maher is “fine” with murdering preborn children and is honest enough to point out that every “pro-choicer” is. He also sees clearly that even pro-lifers who do know abortion is unethical and are not “fine” with it, still seem to want it legal some of the time. It’s a position even pro-abortion Bill Maher knows is untenable.
