Column: Feminist Comedians Should Read Before Tweeting

Celebrities are naturally popular on Twitter, but it’s annoying that liberals – who insist they believe in facts and science and experts and nuance – demand exactly none of that from celebrities.

After the death of a family member, he asked for my friendly facts check. Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones had a cow on Twitter over the leaked draft opinion on Roe Vs. WadeThe Left is in panic because red states are willing to do whatever it takes to stop women traveling from their state for abortions. 

On May 9, Jones posted a nine-second Tik Tok from the account Haus of Petty (@musclesandnursing) with the message “It’s going to be a damn civil war.” Two images circulated in the video over dance music.

The first was a Politico headline from March 19: “Missouri wants to stop out-of-state abortions. Other states could follow,” next to a picture of Missouri state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman.

The second was a tweet from Paul Cogan from Toronto (no blue check), who imagined the worst (emphasis on imagined): “Just Another WTF…In order to prevent women from leaving the state for an abortion, Republican states will soon pass laws that women cannot leave their state unless they submit a negative pregnancy test.”

It is important to note that there are no references in Politico about a requirement for a pregnancies test.

Who needs facts anyway? The Twitter meltdown of Leslie Jones resulted from that TikTok imagery. ”Soooo how the f–k will this work. Or when booking a flight? They might ask when they board the plane! This was the message any lady leaving town should send. ARE WE F–KING WAR PRISONERS NOW WTAF?! This IS SOME HANDDMAIDS!! We need to do something! We can’t let our freedom be attacked!”

This is just how it will work. Or when you book your ticket. They might ask when they board the plane! Any woman who leaves town had to do this. Are WE FUCKING WAR PIRAINS NOW WTAF? Wow, this is some nonsense! We are going to do what? We can’t let our freedom be attacked! pic.twitter.com/95aNtHupkC

— Leslie Jones 🦋 (@Lesdoggg) May 9, 2022

These people are left wondering if there was a Republican politician who actually proposed legislation requiring interstate women to have a pregnancies test. That’s the confusion Jones unleashed. No “independent fact checkers” will get involved. Do they want to tell the Prominent Woman of Color she’s spreading misinformation.

In a 2019 bit on “Weekend Update,” Jones put on the typical “Handmaid’s Tale” outfit and claimed anti-abortion laws were a “war on women.” But PolitiFact hasn’t touched her. Snopes.com quickly corrected the claim last year that Jones was married to fellow cast member Kate McKinnon.

In the actual Politico story on Missouri, it reported state Rep. Coleman is proposing a bill to let private citizens sue people who transport Missouri women across state lines for an abortion, adding “it specifically targets a Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois just across the river from St. Louis that opened in 2019 with the explicit goal of serving Missouri patients.”

This will become a controversial issue if the Supreme Court gives the state the ability to decide abortion policies. Anti-abortion states will want to prevent out-of-state abortions, and pro-abortion states will tout themselves as “havens” for baby killing.

Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s mayor declared her intention to allocate $500,000 for out-of state abortions. This would make Chicago “an island of reproductive freedom.”  These new developments will lead to a new set of court cases and be campaign fodder by Republicans and Democrats.

This is all made even dumber by vulgar comedians. Leslie Jones wouldn’t expect Mitch McConnell to be a great standup comedian, so maybe she should pass on playing Maxine Waters on the internet. With the many people she takes seriously, perhaps she could read before causing panic in everyone.