“Well, shit,” Stephen Colbert began Tuesday night’s The Late Show—his first episode since news leaked that the Supreme Court has drafted a decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Colbert delivered an impassioned 10-minute monologue railing against the conservative justices who would effectively strip millions of people from access to safe abortions. “Strap in,” the host said before charging forward.
The Supreme Court’s draft decision, which is expected to be officially delivered in June or July, was written in an opinion by Samuel Alito. He was reportedly joined in the decision by conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. “So congratulations, ladies,” Colbert said. “Decisions about what you can do with your body are now being made by four old dudes and a woman who thinks The Handmaid’s Tale is a rom-com.”
As noted by Colbert, four of the five justices in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade had acknowledged in their confirmation hearings that the decision had been settled as a precedent. He called the Supreme Court’s draft decision “scathing,” adding, “At one point Alito writes, ‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.’ Now, I’m not a lawyer; I can’t tell you if Roe was rightly decided. But I can tell you that it’s an important precedent that has been repeatedly reaffirmed. And that’s not my opinion. It’s the opinion of these clowns.” He then cut to a montage of the confirmation hearings for Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett in which they all acknowledge that Roe v. Wade had been reaffirmed.
“So, if these folks believe that Roe v. Wade was so egregiously decided, why didn’t they tell the senators that during their confirmation hearings?” asked Colbert. “Well, because American voters support abortion in all or most cases at 80%. They knew that if they were honest, they wouldn’t get the job. So they lied. Which I think is perjury,” he said. “But what do I know? I’m not a Supreme Court justice. I’m not a good enough liar.”
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