In what has been dubbed a war on American women, the state of Alabama passed one of the nation's most restrictive bans on abortion in recent years on Tuesday. The law, which proposes to ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy - with no exceptions for rape and incest - follows the spread of "heartbeat" bills across the country, which prohibits termination once a foetal heartbeat is detected.
Alabama's law, which could see doctors that perform the procedure go to prison for 99 years, seeks to undermine the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which largely granted American women the right to end their pregnancies.
The backlash on social media was swift, with thousands of women taking to Twitter to speak about their personal experiences, using the hashtags #ShoutYourAbortion, and #YouKnowMe.
SNL player, Leslie Jones addressed all this and more in the SNL season finale.
During the Weekend Update segment, Jones rolled in wearing a red cloak and white bonnet reminiscent of the attire of handmaids from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale and its subsequent television adaptation.
The garment has become a symbol of women's resistance in recent years.
''Well, basically, we’re all handmaids now,'' Jones said, addressing Alabama's abortion law. ''This is how it starts. I’m out living my life, and then I see on the news [that] a bunch of states are trying to ban abortion and tell me what I can and can’t do with my body.''
"Next thing you know, I’m in Starbucks and they won’t take my credit card because I’m a woman — instead of the regular reason, which is, I don’t have no money on there.''
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The audience proceeded to boo as the comedian - who had taken off her cloak to reveal a black T-shirt with the word 'MINE' pointing toward her uterus - pointed out that only male senators voted last week to pass the nation's most restrictive abortion bill.
"This look like the casting call of a Lipitor commercial,'' she asserted. ''This look like the mug shots of everyone arrested at a massage parlor. . . . You can’t control women because I don’t know if y’all heard, but women are the same as humans.''
"This really is a war on women,'' Jones concluded. ''And if you’re a woman out there and you feel scared or confused, just know that you’re not alone. There are so many women out there who’ve got your back.''
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