Goober the Clown makes an abortion statement on ‘SNL’
One of the most rousing and far-reaching rebukes of Texas’ controversial abortion law was delivered Saturday by a woman dressed as a circus clown.
In a viral segment, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Cecily Strong appeared as the character Goober the Clown on the latest installment of “Weekend Update” to comment on Senate Bill 8, which denies people the right to an abortion by making it illegal for doctors to end a pregnancy after about six weeks.
“Here to cheer us up — well, this can’t be right — Goober the Clown, who had an abortion when she was 23. ... Goober, you had an abortion when you were 23?” said “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost as Strong arrived in a bright pink hat, oversized clothing and a red clown nose.
“People keep bringing it up, so I gotta keep talking about my freaking abortion,” Strong said in a silly, perky voice. “But it’s a rough subject, so we’re gonna do fun clown stuff to make it more palatable.”
While squirting water at Jost from a trick flower on her lapel, attempting to make balloon animals and squeezing a horn that refused to honk, Strong’s Goober the Clown educated audiences on “clown abortion,” using clowns as a proxy for people who can become pregnant.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business,” she said. “But that’s all some people in this country want to discuss all the time, even though clown abortion was legalized in Clown v. Wade in 1973. ... Did you know one in three clowns will have a clown abortion in her lifetime?”
After telling Jost to pull her finger and begging him to laugh “like the way I laughed when the doctor asked if I got pregnant on the way over to the clinic because I wasn’t very far along,” Strong’s clown alter ego described her experience attending her abortion appointment.
At one point, Jost appeared to break character by saying, “You don’t have to do this, Cecily.” To which Strong replied, without missing a beat, “Who’s Cecily? I’m Goober.”
“And in the waiting room, they had a little guest book where all the clowns could write their clown abortion story for the next clown to read it, so she wouldn’t feel so alone,” she continued.