The internet is abuzz with the latest episode of Bill Maher’s HBO show, Real Time, where the host gave his take on abortion. Maher didn't mince words when calling the heinous act truly what it is: murder.
Speaking to British journalist Piers Morgan and British author Gillian Tett, Maher called out presumptive Republican nominee for president Donald Trump and his recent statement on abortion, saying this:
“None of you believe it’s murder. You know, that’s why I don’t understand the 15-week thing. Or the — Trump’s plan is, ‘Let’s leave it to the states.’ You mean, so killing babies is okay in some states?” he asked.
He added, “Like, I can respect the absolutist position. I really can. I scold the left when they say [pro-lifers] hate women… they don’t hate women… they just made that up. They think [abortion] is murder, and it kind of is. I’m just okay with that. I am. I, I mean, there’s 8 billion people in the world. I’m sorry; we won’t miss you. That’s my position on that.”
His speech led to some long pregnant pauses, some hearing crickets to then abrupt verbiage by both guests who still couldn’t really fathom what Maher had said. Morgan called his words “harsh” and quipped it’s because the HBO host doesn’t like kids. But then Maher doubled down on his own position, challenging Morgan: “You said you’re pro-choice?” Morgan agreed. “That’s your position, too?” And Morgan concurred with a nod.
Morgan could’ve deviated, but he didn’t. He could’ve echoed the same tired arguments the pro-abortion side is always quick to use, or even uttered the language the Biden administration and specifically Vice President Kamala Harris touts: women’s choice or reproductive health.
But Maher’s decision to equate the so-called surgery with murder is just too brutally honest to rebut. Strong words by Pope Francis and the “hiring of a hitman” come to mind since that is how murders typically take place — in the dark recesses where no one sees, save for the victim and the predator. And when we talk about the victim in abortion, this victim is wholly innocent and hasn’t even taken his or her first breath outside the womb.
And regardless of how the pro-abortion regime attempts to invite women to "shout their abortions," all women, even ones with strong stances, never wear these excruciating experiences on their sleeves.
So, though it is surprising to say, bravo to Bill Maher for speaking his mind and making pro-abortion activists ’fess up to the truth about abortion. It is clearly murder. And when anyone starts to talk in terms of limits and not in absolute ways about the dignity of all life, the argument is lost. Although the constitution protects the sovereignty of states' rights and we see politicians drawing lines to attract voters, in the words of Dr. Seuss, a person's a person, no matter how small.
And as pro-lifers resounded on social media: Maher did say the 'quiet part outloud.'
But the fact that Maher thinks killing innocent life is okay because we have “8 billion on the planet” is a tragedy upon the greater tragedy of abortion. Of course, Maher must be aware of the declining birth rates across the globe. In the Unites States alone, the birth rate has been dropping since the Great Recession, dropping almost 23% between 2007 and 2022. Maher's cringeworthy reasoning only speaks to the coarsening of the American pro-choice heart.
This viral video exchange reminds some of us of another pregnant pause and eerie silence, this one dating back to Feb. 3, 1994, when then-President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton listened to a tiny nun from the slums of Kolkata speak during the National Prayer Breakfast.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, wearing socks and sandals on a frigid winter morning in the nation’s capital, made some shift uncomfortably in their seats when Mother Teresa defined abortion as succinctly as Bill Maher did:
But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.
Mother Teresa was even more transparent, making it known that a mother was killing her child — the mother, the only one who can nurture and truly defend a child in this most fragile state. The now saint went on to call abortion the greatest destroyer of love:
By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
Another adage that also circulates the internet about this moment in our history, when Mother Teresa visited the White House, meeting with an administration that was promoting abortion, mentions a chance encounter when the nun and first lady are talking one-on-one. Hillary Clinton asked Mother Teresa “How is it possible that there has never been a female president?” The nun apparently responded: “Because she was probably aborted.”
Now, none of this has been confirmed, although social-media memes sprinkle platforms online, but there is real truth to be found in the anecdote. When we ourselves as a society decide to play God, controlling who is born and not allowing life in the womb to flourish, we fail to affirm the truth that every life has value and every child conceived should be allowed to live his or her dream.
May we, the pro-life movement and generation, carry on steadfastly, not wavering or changing the value of life by limits. The window to the womb has been exposed, and we must protect life 100%.
As the words of Revelation 3:15-16 declare:
“I know your works: You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”