Hi, welcome to "Full Frontal"!
I'm Samantha Bee.
It's our 200th episode!
Oh my god, I cannot believe we made it!
And I also can't believe we're still
talking about basically the same things we
were talking about back then.
REPORTER: On Wednesday, the justices
heard oral arguments on a Mississippi law
that would bar almost all abortions after 15 weeks.
Now, that law directly contradicts
the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which guaranteed that right
prior to the viability of the fetus,
generally considered about 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
It's pretty clear that Mississippi
law is going to survive.
In about half the country, abortion would be illegal.
With all due respect to the Supreme Court, [BLEEP] this.
[BLEEP] this so hard!
This ruling could effectively overturn Roe v. Wade,
and revoke a right that has been fundamental
and established for women in this country for decades.
And what makes this even worse is that if Justice Amy Coney
Barrett had her way, women would essentially
become human incubators.
AMY CONEY BARRETT: Both Roe and Casey emphasized
the burdens of parenting.
And insofar as you and many of your amici focus on the ways
in which the forced parenting, forced motherhood
would hinder women's access to the workplace
and to equal opportunities, it's also
focused on the consequences of parenting
and the obligations of motherhood that flow
from pregnancy.
Why don't the safe haven laws take care of that problem?
It doesn't seem to me to follow that pregnancy
and then parenthood are all part of the same burden.
So by that logic, if you die of complications
from an unwanted pregnancy, it's just because you
were too lazy to live.
With a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court,
the potential hollowing out of reproductive rights
isn't a shocking outcome, but it does call attention
to recent questions about the court's
legitimacy, a concern that was voiced by Justice Sotomayor.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR: The sponsors of this bill,
the House bill in Mississippi, said we're doing it
because we have new justices.
The newest ban that Mississippi has put in place,
the six-week ban, the Senate sponsor
said, we're doing it because we have new justices
on the Supreme Court.
Will this institution survive the stench that this creates,
and the public perception that the Constitution
and its reading are just political acts?
I don't see how it is possible.
Good thing the court only allows
audio, because you know Sotomayor was
flipping her colleagues off.
But she's right.
The Supreme Court is undergoing a legitimacy crisis,
and public approval is at an all-time low.
REPORTER: In just two months, the Supreme Court's approval
rating dropped nine points.
It now sits at 40%, the lowest since Gallup
began tracking it in 2000.
The poll found three major unpopular decisions
driving that drop--
declining to block Texas's six-week abortion restrictions,
striking down the CDC's eviction freeze,
and allowing colleges to mandate COVID vaccines.
This is terrible news for everyone
except Brett Kavanaugh, who's never had 40%
of people like him in his life.
A majority of Americans believe the court's decisions are based
more on the justices' political leanings
than the Constitution and law.
Probably because the Justice is Blind statue outside the court
now reads, "she's blind because she masturbated too much
and made God angry."
And although the court's recent track record speaks for itself,
conservative justices have been quick to clutch
their pearls against criticism.
REPORTER: Justice Samuel Alito blasting the media
for portraying the now conservative-leaning court
as "a dangerous cabal, deciding important issues
in a novel, secretive, improper way
in the middle of the night."
REPORTER: Barrett said she wants to convince people
that the Supreme Court is not comprised by,
quote, "a bunch of partisan hacks."
Barrett added she's no more important
than anyone else in the grocery store checkout lines.
Oh, that is the biggest load of bullshit.
Of course she thinks she's more important!
Even I demand VIP treatment when I go shopping.
And people give it to me, because they think
I'm busted Gwyneth Paltrow.
Despite what these legally blands want us to believe,
this is the most conservative court
we've seen since the 1930s.
And Republicans, led by the only pimple Dr. Pimple Popper
couldn't pop, have been gaming the system for years
in order to stack the court in their favor.
NARRATOR: There would be no hearings, no votes, no
consideration of Judge Garland.
CHRIS HAYES: This current court is
the product of the unprecedented total obstruction of President
Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland,
and then the rushing through of Amy Coney Barrett
to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Unfortunately, just like the trauma
from walking in on your grandparents having sex,
SCOTUS appointments are for life.
We could be dealing with the consequences of their decisions
for decades, especially when it comes to reproductive rights.
For some people, it'll be easier to find a Blockbuster
than it will be to find a clinic.
While wealthy women will continue
to be able to travel for abortions,
the Supreme Court's decisions would especially hurt
poor women and women of color.
When the Supreme Court's decision on Mississippi's
abortion law comes in the summer,
we know there is a strong chance Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
We have to prepare as best we can,
by helping support people who need to travel out of state
for safe abortion access, and by sharing information
about abortion pills.
Because no matter what the court eventually says,
abortion is a right.
We'll be right back.
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