Leslie Jones Rips Into Alabama’s Abortion Ban on SNL: “This Is a War on Women”

“When women have a choice, women have freedom.”


Comedian Leslie Jones ripped into Alabama’s recent vote to effectively ban abortion on Saturday Night Live, appearing during the show’s Weekend Update segment in a red Handmaid’s Tale gown. “Basically, we’re all handmaids now,” Jones said. 

In a monologue both hilarious and pointed, Jones blasted the 25 senators who voted for the ban—all men, she said, who look like the casting call for a “Lipitor commercial”—while emphasizing the severity of the vote. Alabama isn’t alone in this gender imbalance: Mother Jones found that all of the nine states that recently passed abortion bans had a lower than average percentage of women serving in their legislatures, except for Georgia.

“Look, the fact that nine states are doing this means this really is a war on women,” Jones said. “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 that’s got your back, especially me.” 

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We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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