Chris Rock makes a powerful pro-life argument
Jack Hunter
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When Chris Rock’s new Netflix special, Selective Outrage, aired on Saturday night, the comedy legend took on a variety of matters. One was abortion.
I had the pleasure of seeing Rock in January. Being pro-life, I found that Rock’s segment about abortion registered with me then as much as it did this weekend. I can’t recall the last time a broad audience was so starkly confronted by the pro-life argument by such a popular entertainment figure.
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Rock began this segment by assuring the audience he was pro-choice.
“A lot of people say, ‘Chris, you shouldn’t talk about abortion. It’s a women’s issue,” he said.
“I’m like, ‘Hey! I’ve paid for more abortions than any woman in this room!’” the comedian continued to great laughter. “When I go to the clinic, I say, ‘Give me the usual.’ When I go in, they give me a punch card. ‘Here you go.’ Two more, and I get a free smoothie. Mango!”
Debating where he stands on being pro-life or pro-choice, Rock continued, “I have two beautiful daughters. So there’s a part of me that’s pro-life. Because I’m definitely pro their lives. … But since I love my daughters unconditionally, I love them not just as little girls, I love them as grown women. I want my daughters to live in a world where they have complete control of their bodies.”
That line popped the crowd, drawing loud applause. He had firmly established that he was pro-choice. That’s when Rock flipped the switch.
“And because of that, I am pro-choice. I’m absolutely pro-choice,” Rock reaffirmed. “I believe women should have the right to kill babies.”
That line drew no applause and light, uncomfortable laughter. The same reaction occurred at the first show I attended.
“That’s right. I’m on your side,” he said, seemingly meaning he was on the side of women. “I believe you should have the right to kill as many babies as you want. Kill ’em all. I don’t give a f***.”
Obviously, a key factor in being pro-choice is denying that the unborn child is indeed a child. For them, it’s not a baby.
So Rock wanted to make sure he was being absolutely clear on what abortion really is: “But let’s not get it twisted. It is killing a baby.”
He got gruesome in making his point. “Because whenever I pay for an abortion, I request a dead baby,” Rock said. “Sometimes, I call up the doctor like a hitman: ‘Is it done?’” He held his hand to his ear like a phone.
Then, Rock went even further. “People argue. First trimester, second trimester … I think women should have the right to kill a baby until he’s 4 years old!”
The crowd laughed big. After all, no one thought he was serious about actually killing a 4-year-old child, right? Right?
“F*** ‘trimester.’ ‘Semester!’” he said.
“I think you should be able to kill a baby till you get that first report card,” he continued as he pretended to look at a bad report card. “Whoo! He ain’t never getting a scholarship. ‘Okay, you can finish watching Stranger Things. But when it’s over, we going to the clinic! Hurry up, I’m trying to get a smoothie.”
However comedic, Rock challenged his wide audience to think about what life is and when it begins while also insisting that abortion is indisputably the taking of a human life.
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I’m not suggesting he was intentionally trying to press the core argument of the pro-life movement, but that’s precisely what Rock did.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.