Goober the Clown. The name doesn’t scream an intellectual heavyweight. Yet Saturday night on Saturday Night Live, Cecily Strong appeared as “Goober the Clown Who Had an Abortion at Age 23” and gave a passionate, satirical defense for the pro-choice movement. Her spot quickly won widespread acclaim from multiple media outlets. While her approach was skillful, her argument was troublesome.
The Strength of Goober the Clown
It wouldn’t surprise me if Goober the Clown joins the ranks of one of the most memorable sketches in SNL history. While it lacked the hilarity of “More Cowbell” or “Living in a van down by the river,” it was a brilliant approach at a very difficult topic. By joining the innocence of a clown with the most hotly debated political topic of the last fifty years, Strong was able to communicate her angst over the topic.
She made her point well. But it is her point that I disagree with.
Yet before discussing that, let me notate something she got right. When Strong laments many women having to keep this secret and encourages a society in which they can find community in their story, I totally agree. Secrets make us sick and everyone needs a community of love and support in which they can freely tell their story.
The difference is that Strong believes the abortion story should be told with pride, but I think it should be told with sorrow.
The Sorrow of Goober the Clown
In the sketch, Cecily Strong made two major arguments for abortion: 1. Since abortions are so common, they must be right. 2. Since she is successful, her decision must have been right.
Obviously the frequency of something doesn’t make it right. Basically Strong argued, “we can’t all be wrong” since she claims 1 in 3 women have had abortions. But obviously, we can all be wrong. No one is arguing since sexual harassment in the workplace was so common in Hollywood that it was right or that the #MeToo movement is wrong since it happened so much.
But it was her second point that reveals the true issue at hand. “I wouldn’t be on TV if it weren’t for the abortion I had when I was 23,” Strong proclaimed. Her argument–if it wasn’t for abortion, she wouldn’t be rich, famous, and successful.
In our society, who can argue against that? In a culture that values fame, riches, and autonomy more than any other value, Strong’s argument makes perfect sense.
Yet with some different values, Strong’s case makes very little sense.
What Do We Value
When we value life, Goober the Clown makes us want to weep. We hurt not only for the women suffering in silence, but also for a culture that sees a child as a burden, motherhood as a loss compared to a career, and personal autonomy as a better path to success than an interdependent relationship between a woman, man, and child.
Whether or not Strong meant to, she basically said, “I have money, fame, and power, obviously my life is better than what it would have been.” But is that true? While many envy fame, being famous has in no way proven to be something to be envied. Fame and riches seem more correlated with unhappiness than joy. It’s why I regularly remind people they don’t want to win the lottery. Society might value fame, power, and money, but none of those things lead to a life people desire. Instead, they are often correlated with more fear, unhappiness, and sorrow.
So what does lead to a life we all desire? The answer is love. Not the syrupy I do whatever feels good thing we often describe as love, but genuine care about others more than self, a willingness to submit my desire to something bigger than me, and a trust in God (and others) that empowers me to travel a road which otherwise I never would have traveled on my own. For Strong that might have included motherhood at 23. For me and Jenny, it has been the joy of parenting a child with special needs.
While clowning around about abortion was a powerful satirical approach on Saturday night, to me it is a sorrow-filled mirror into our sin-filled world. It shows how much we value ourselves over all other things, even the most vulnerable among us. Strong’s argument was the most American argument one could make. And that shows the problem with America. We value power, fame, and money over all things. And those values are killing us. (See Fearless Families where I argue those values are a result of fear.)
Us, Not Them
A problem with many abortion-related discussions is we immediately pick sides and begin to demonize those that disagree with us. Cecily Strong is not my opponent. I oppose her view on this one issue, but I’m not against her. I’m for her and others. But I do think she is wrong on this topic.
I don’t know what her life would look like if she made different choices at 23, but I do know that motherhood is not a second-rate life. I also know that just because she has power, fame, and money doesn’t mean she is living a life any of us should envy. Part of me wonders if the line “I wouldn’t be here if not for the abortion I had” might actually be a statement of her own regret.
Either way, we need to do better.
Those who are pro-life need to create a more loving, accepting space for those who have had abortions. We must stop using the issue to score political points and start valuing the lives of those who have had abortions as much as the baby’s they have aborted. We must make sure we are pro-life in every area of our lives, not just on the issue of abortion.
Those who are pro-choice need to consider where the pro-choice movement is going. It’s moved well beyond abortion being a regrettable outcome in a few cases, to becoming something that some now argue is the “righteous” choice as we elevate self above all things. That’s a dangerous road.
In the end, abortion is something that should break our hearts and not be something we clown around about.
An Extra Note
One thing of which SNL’s skit reminds me, is how true an opening statement in a recent sermon was. While preaching about a Biblical view of sex, I said, “If all sexual activity was saved for a consensual act between a man and a woman in the confines of a commitment, imagine how many problems in the world would immediately disappear?” It’s true. And abortion would be one of those things. For the rest of the sermon, watch here:
Have you inquired as to her thinking behind the statement that she wouldn’t be on TV if she had not made the abortion choice? Perhaps she wanted to hone her performance skills before she took on the all-encompassing task of raising children. Perhaps she wanted to be childfree at that time and now that she has the means, she can better give her child the best life possible. She doesn’t say one single thing about being rich and famous, you do. Perhaps there’s some jealousy spilling out all over on your floor. I’d clean that up if I were you. Oh and also, get a sense of humor! The clown is YOU.The clown symbolizes Americans too stupid to accept that human life begins when the WOMAN carrying the child says it does for her, not for you men after conception. Abortion is very common and will remain so and we women have the right to choose. As a man, you really should sit down and shut your mouth.
I disagree with some of your thoughts. The pro-choice movement does not hold abortion as a righteous act. It holds abortion as an incredibly difficult decision that is best made by the pregnant woman, not the church or state.
Also, it’s fine to use the Goober clown SNL act as an example (full disclosure – I’ve never seen the skit) of a a reason you think wrongly justifies an abortion, but the problem with your blog is that you use Goober’s reason to insinuate that all women have abortions to become rich and famous.
Here’s an example using your argument style – Jim Bakker, a famous pastor, used his church to steal money from his followers to make himself rich and famous and was later convicted of felony charges and placed in jail – therefore, all pastors including Kevin Thompson became pastors to become rich and famous so never go to church. It probably doesn’t feel so good when such an argument is turned on you.
Could there be some women who have an abortion to become rich and famous? I suppose it’s possible but to start with you may have misinterpreted what Goober really meant but that’s a full blog by itself. Women have abortions for many reasons – they are in an abusive relationship not fit for a child, they are absolutely broke and have no way of funding their child’s life due to a lack of social support from government and, yes, the church as well. They may be 15 years old with no education and no familial support. They may have been raped. The list goes on and on – and most of the list does not include the desire to be Goober the clown on SNL.
I waited until I was married to have a children and my second pregnancy resulted in down syndrome. I didn’t not want that life and thankfully in Canada abortions are completely legal! After many tests, it was 100% confirmed and now I have an easy life with my family.
–“If all sexual activity was saved for a consensual act between a man and a woman in the confines of a commitment, imagine how many problems in the world would immediately disappear?” you forgot about birth defects–
Thank you for these comments, I didn’t watch the SNL skit but you explained it with a biblical, compassionate perspective. I personally believe that one million abortions a year are connected to the murder of George Floyd — human life has been devalued to a point that anyone’s life can be taken with impunity.
Sir, with all due respect I had an abortion while my husband was in the Army. It was very much his child. We simply never planned or wanted to be parents and my IUD failed. I also am not able to consider 9 months of incubation as a fair trade for marital, consensual sexual relations.
No one wants to tell a story like mine because I don’t fit into any tropes for either side. Abortion is a direct consequence of lack of reproductive healthcare and social welfare; most of western Europe has far fewer abortions proportionally every year compared to the States.
Perhaps instead of telling people they should be sad because your perspective is that a life was lost, consider the fact that many religions (including my own) do not believe a fetus is a life. Many condone unnecessary morning. It’s okay to clown OR to feel sorrow. Isn’t that kind of the point of the USA?
The Christian community fails to take into consideration that abortion IS healthcare. It’s never black and white. I’m a Christian and my cousin had a late term abortion with a son they desperately wanted.
So, what would have the Christlike response? To deny an abortion to save her life? To let her die on the table and leave behind her husband and young daughter? If abortion were banned she would have.
And when I tell Christians this story they always say, “Oh, THAT wasn’t an abortion.” Actually, yes it was.
I’m a Christian and I’m tired of this fight. I’m pro-choice to support and save my sisters. THEIR life matters too. Not just the potential baby they carry.
Loved it! Thank you so much for this article.
Thank you for writing this. I’m the CEO of Sierra Pregnancy & Health in Roseville. I also lead the Forgiven & Set Free After abortion Bible study that Bayside offers for women.
Women and men who experience an abortion will think their problem is fixed when in reality it’s the “thing” that causes so many downstream issues that get denied until it almost destroys them.
I didn’t walk through my healing journey until the age of 57 when I took over SierraPH in 2019.
My heart breaks for those that have yet to receive healing, knowing their pain. At SierraPH we offer healing for all pregnancy loss for both men and women.