SNL's 'Weekend Update' sends in a clown to make abortion real talk 'more palatable'

Everyone is talking about abortion — whether it's bad or fine, if it should be legal and under what conditions, whether offering bounties for turning in people who help a woman procure an abortion is a legitimate use of government power — but everyone is also mostly talking around abortion, Cecily Strong highlighted on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update." And she made her point as "Goober the Clown, who had an abortion when she was 23."

When co-anchor Colin Jost asked if she wanted to discuss abortion, "Goober" said no, "but people keep bringing it up so I gotta keep talking about freakin' abortion. But it's a rough subject so we're gonna do fun clown stuff to make it more palatable."

"Hey, did you know one one in three clowns will have a clown abortion in her lifetime?" "Goober" asked at one point. "You don't, because they don't tell you. They don't even know how to talk to other clowns about it." She inhaled helium for the last part: "It's gonna happen, so it ought to be safe, legal, and accessible. We will not go back to the alley — I mean, last thing anyone wants is a bunch of dead clowns in a dark alley."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Y'all better disable comments on this one," "Goober" advised.

"Weekend Update" also (lightly) tackled other controversial topics, like COVID-19 vaccine refusal — Kenan Thompson's Ice Cube explained (eventually) why he won't get the shot.

And they highlighted the "Let's Go Brandon" chant in a bit, cut for time but posted online, starring Kyle Mooney as a Brandon not in on the joke.

And, of course, "Weekend Update" also covered the news. "Our top story tonight, like it's been for as long as I can remember: infrastructure," Jost said. They also joked about Tuesday's elections.

Not all news stories are big news stories, Jost and Michael Che reminded everyone, and not all jokes land.