Bill Maher Warns Red States of 'Womb Drain' over New Anti-Abortion Laws in Alabama, Missouri

Bill Maher May 10
HBO

Comedian Bill Maher used the opening monologue of Friday's Real Time to talk about the spate of new, highly restrictive anti-abortion laws being passed in states like Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. He warned these states that they may end up driving younger women away, resulting in a "womb drain."

"This week was all about the long game for Republicans coming to fruition now," said Maher about the new pieces of legislation that seek to outlaw most abortions in affected states. "Fetus: Endgame would be the movie we're seeing."

Describing what he saw as a contest between right-leaning states to see "who could be more hardcore on abortion," Maher listed off various legislative attempts to restrict a woman's right to the procedure, starting with an actual example and then spinning out into satire.

"Georgia made it illegal after six weeks -- women don't even know they're pregnant sometimes at six weeks," noted Maher. "Alabama made it illegal at conception. Mississippi is thinking about making it illegal when you swipe right on Tinder. Arkansas now says any woman not committing incest must start committing incest; if you can not afford an uncle, one will be provided for you."

He specifically mocked Alabama's law for not allowing an exception for abortions in cases of rape and incest, asking, "How else are you supposed to get pregnant in Alabama?"

While Maher made no effort to hide where he comes down on this issue, he also took time to mock liberals for what he viewed as ineffectual hashtag activism in response to these new laws.

"They have a hashtag now, #boycottAlabama, which is great if you're a purchaser of fried green tomatoes or meth," he opined. "Today I Googled companies based in Alabama and the largest one was Vulcan Materials, the largest producer of crushed stone. That's right, this is their high-tech sector: breaking rocks into smaller rocks."

Maher then warned anti-abortion activists in what he dubbed the "Don't break a condom here" states that they should be careful what they wish for.

"There's a lot of young women in these states — would you stay there, in Alabama or any of these states that are doing this?" he asked his audience. "You've heard of the 'brain drain'? There could be a 'womb drain.'... 'Come out to California, ladies! The weather is sunny and it's 2019 here. Don't worry about abortion in California, you can get it done at the dry cleaners.'"

You can watch the whole monologue in the video above.

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