Problems with the Superhero Theory

In the United States, abortion foes and those who support abortion rights are locked in a bitter struggle. What that has to do with guns is explained by Trevor Noah.

“Pro-life” or “pro-choice” — in the United States those are matters of conviction like “Democrat” or “Republican,” “pro-gun” or “anti-gun.” You’re either in favor of making a personal decision about abortion or you’re strictly against it. There are no gray areas.

That ideological question is again being hotly debated in America. The cause of that debate is an argument over the Planned Parenthood organization, which provides health advice to women, including information about abortion. Money has always been available to them from the government budget. That’s something the Republicans want to eliminate in the coming budget currently being negotiated. Planned Parenthood claims it uses no government funds for abortions but that’s a point that doesn’t impress the intractable “pro-life” crowd at all.

Especially since they now see themselves supported by videos that purportedly show that Planned Parenthood engaged in selling tissue obtained from aborted fetuses. Planned Parenthood categorically rejects the charges, saying that the videos had been manipulated by pro-life groups. The chasm between the groups’ positions could not be wider. Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner got involved in the fight and will resign from his powerful congressional post by the end of the month.

Trevor Noah has shown how the arch-conservatives and their tactics can be exposed. At the start of the week, he made the first powerful statement on the abortion issue since taking over “The Daily Show” from liberal icon Jon Stewart: Noah compared the fight over Planned Parenthood to the national gun control issue.

The previous week, a gunman had killed nine people and wounded another nine on an Oregon college campus before taking his own life. Now, American conservatives are not only anti-abortion, they are also pro-gun rights. Stricter gun laws to prevent such massacres and reduce the body counts? Surely not!

Jeb Bush, George W. Bush’s older brother* and reportedly the smarter of the two, commented on the latest massacre saying, “Stuff happens. There’s always a crisis.” Bush, like the Republican party, is pro-life where the unborn are given priority over all else.

Trevor Noah sees it this way: Whoever claims to be “pro-life” should be pro-life when it comes to those already born as well. What would it be like if all the “pro-lifers” stood up for every life? There would be no trouble at all passing tougher gun laws.

“The amount of lives they save could reach superhero levels,” Noah said. “They just need to have a superhero’s total dedication to life.” But nobody should hold their breath waiting for any of the Republican presidential candidates to champion Noah’s superhero ideas.

* Editor’s Note: Jeb Bush is actually George W. Bush’s younger brother.