Trevor Noah, like so many people across America—and around the world—was taken aback when a draft opinion about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked earlier this week (for which The Daily Show had a great response). On Tuesday, Noah took aim at the real reason behind the decision to overturn a law that has been in effect for nearly half a century: conservative Republicans.
While Noah was sure to make it clear that what we’ve seen is only a draft opinion, not a law, he also made sure to note that “it’s important to remember how we got here. Because, keep in mind, that poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans don’t want Roe v. Wade to be overturned. But the GOP didn’t care about that.”
So, how did we get here? According to Noah:
“[The GOP] didn’t care about winning over the people, they just cared about getting enough justices onto the court to get what they want. Basically, they used the same tactic that that a**hole friend of yours uses when they’re ordering pizza.
‘Hey, what toppings does everyone want? What do you want on the pizza?’
‘Extra cheese and pepperoni!’
‘Well I’m ordering so it’s anchovies and pineapples!’Dick!
And that’s basically how you end up with a Supreme Court decision that amounts to a hostile takeover of America’s reproductive rights.
While Samuel Alito, who authored the draft, wrote that “the inescapable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions,” Noah wholeheartedly disagrees. While he believes there’s truth in the idea that part of our history is that “men can control what women do,” he also points out that the right to an abortion has been around for 50 years—which might be longer than you have been around.
“Think about it,” said Noah. “I think it’s safe to say that [the right to an abortion] is a tradition at this point. Like, if you go without electricity for a weekend, you’re camping. If you go without it for 50 years, you’re Amish, motherf***er. That’s just who you are.”
You can watch the full clip above.