# GOP plan to appeal to millennials: “Make abortion funny” **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 19, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317 "2013-06-19T00:45:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/1 "2013-06-19T00:45:51Z")
> **[GOP plan to appeal to millennials: "Make abortion funny"](https://www.salon.com/2013/06/17/gop_plan_to_appeal_to_millennials_make_abortion_funny/)** > > Young Christian-right leaders think the answer to their problems with young voters lies in more snark > [@](#): > > “How do you make abortion funny?” That was a key question mulled at a major conservative gathering Friday on how to make social conservatism appealing to young people, after an election where Republicans got trounced in the battle for millennial voters (who are are moving even further and further away from the Christian-right on marriage and other issues). > > Abortion has to be made funny, the thinking goes, because funny sells on social media, and that’s where one goes to court young people. “You can engage with sarcasm, it’s hard with the abortion issue, but you have to,” said Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins at a breakout panel at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington today on how to win millennial voters. “Unfortunately we have to, because this is the generation that we’ve been dealt.” The article is about more than just abortion, it also talks about same sex marriage, for example. To be fair, the article title is a bit misleading. There are Republicans who want to move the party in another direction regarding social issues, but not these people. These people want to move youth in their direction, no the other way around, and they want to do it by making abortion funny. :dubious: They almost remind me of my youth in the late sixties and early seventies when the churches tried to get “hip” and have “funky” music and “dance clubs” in church basements, to try to win us over, and we were snickering at them behind their backs. I say almost because I don’t recall them doing anything as bad as trying to make abortion funny. IMHO, if they can’t move on the social issues, then they’re in trouble as a political party. Even their gerrymandering and legislative obstructionism will ultimately fail them. As will the absolutely brilliant idea of making abortion funny. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/2 "2013-06-19T01:12:50Z")
They’d very much love to have someone as funny, and as effective, as Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. They’ve tried. The problem is that their basic philosophical stance isn’t funny. How do you make Ebeneezer Scrooge or Shylock or Saruman funny? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/3 "2013-06-19T02:41:15Z")
Oh, man, I can’t express how much I hope they go through with this. Given how utterly tone deaf republicans are when they try to be serious, the blowback when they try to approach these issues humorously should be enormous. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/4 "2013-06-19T02:51:00Z")
How many rape abortion babies does it take to change a light bulb? none, cause they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/5 "2013-06-19T03:53:24Z")
“Unfortunately we have to, because this is the generation that we’ve been dealt.” LOL, this will be good. I’m trying to think of a funny abortion joke but drawing a blank. The only thing I can think of is on family guy when a woman is talking to Brian and telling him all these terrible abortion stories and he asks ‘have you ever had any sex that was voluntary’ and she says ‘no I have not’. That’d be fun to ask at one of these conventions. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/6 "2013-06-19T04:02:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m trying to think of a funny abortion joke but drawing a blank. Not really funny but… What’s red and crawls up a woman’s leg? A homesick abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/7 "2013-06-19T07:39:27Z")
I have to agree that going for the Lowest Common Denominator is not a good idea for electoral strategy. That said, abortion isn’t budging as a social issue even for younger voters. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/8 "2013-06-19T08:17:10Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > They’d very much love to have someone as funny, and as effective, as Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. They’ve tried. The problem is that their basic philosophical stance isn’t funny. How do you make Ebeneezer Scrooge or Shylock or Saruman funny? Saruman’s easy, he’s got Wormtongue to be the dolt, all he has to do is play the straight man. That’s a fine mess of Ents you’ve gotten us into, Grima ! _laugh track_ But anyhow, jokes about abortions from the conservative point of view are easy. Why did the abortion baby cross the road ? He didn’t, because his mother MURDERED HIM and is going to roast in Hell for all eternity for it ! Praise the Lord ! See ? Easy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/9 "2013-06-19T08:23:38Z")
What’s the difference between a truckload of bowling balls and a truckload of aborted fetuses? You can’t unload the bowling balls with a pitchfork. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/10 "2013-06-19T08:40:00Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Why did the abortion baby cross the road ? Because it was stapled to the chicken. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/11 "2013-06-19T08:58:08Z")
\*\*Kobal2 \*\*has a point. The “jokes” have to be ANTI abortion, they can’t just be about abortion. So y’all can’t just be telling actual serious abortion jokes. Let me try my hand at predicting a few… What’s the difference between killing a 2 week old infant and a 2 week old fetus? None! Because they are both human beings who have the right to life! Did you hear about the mother who went into her doctor’s office and asked about having an abortion? He reported her immediately to the authorities and she was sent to prison and the baby was allowed to live because she gave birth under the supervision of the prison medical staff, because it was the year 2024 and abortion has been outlawed! Conception: how does life compare to this sentence? They both begin at conception! Ok now you all try your hand at some, I’m sick. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/12 "2013-06-19T10:57:33Z")
That sounds like a lame attempt to identify with young people, akin to selling the conservative message by using more hip words like “Whack”. However, there is an opening. The President’s lost 17 points in approval rating due to young voters abandoning him. I bet he’ll lose even more when the health care bill goes into effect and they try to force young people to buy a product they don’t want, for more than they’d otherwise have to pay for it. You don’t need hip words and comedy to sell the conservative agenda to young people. As far as abortion goes, just remind them they are part of the “survivor generation”. Their brothers and sisters and the friends they should have had were flushed and they narrowly missed getting flushed too. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/13 "2013-06-19T11:55:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > As far as abortion goes, just remind them they are part of the “survivor generation”. Their brothers and sisters and the friends they should have had were flushed and they narrowly missed getting flushed too. Doesn’t seem like insulting someone’s mother would be a winning strategy, but maybe it works for conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/14 "2013-06-19T12:01:47Z")
You’re right, it’s not something that can be said politically, but it’s true. I think a lot of people 40 and under would be surprised to know how many of their siblings were deemed unfit. And it says something about the abortion issue that we’d like to assume that our mothers would never, ever, have considered flushing us. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/15 "2013-06-19T12:24:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And it says something about the abortion issue that we’d like to assume that our mothers would never, ever, have considered flushing us. What is says is that the only thing that keeps our mothers from flushing us is a law against it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/16 "2013-06-19T12:27:17Z")
You had a 50-50 chance or so. Be glad you were on the right side of that coin flip. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/17 "2013-06-19T12:35:22Z")
Fifty percent of pregnancies end in abortion? I missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/18 "2013-06-19T12:36:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You had a 50-50 chance or so. Be glad you were on the right side of that coin flip. Do you have a cite for this, or did you pull the number out of your ass? My casual googling indicates that only 28% of all women age 15-65ish have had an abortion. My mom, like the vast majority (100-28=72%) of moms out there, had zero abortions. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/19 "2013-06-19T12:40:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You had a 50-50 chance or so. Be glad you were on the right side of that coin flip. I suspect that a flip of a coin is not a determinant when a women makes a decision like this. Oh, wait… This is one of the ways the GOP can make abortion funny, “right” ? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/20 "2013-06-19T12:41:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You’re right, it’s not something that can be said politically, but it’s true. I think a lot of people 40 and under would be surprised to know how many of their siblings were deemed unfit. And it says something about the abortion issue that we’d like to assume that our mothers would never, ever, have considered flushing us. Maybe the only reason some of us were born was because our mothers decided not to have an early pregnancy and thus were able to have us in a more fit time. Hell, I know I probably would have been aborted if times were different. Do you think I should be happy about this? If I had been aborted, I’d never have known, now would I? And my biological mother would unfortunately probably have been about a million times happier, plus all of the people her pregnancy affected. I don’t assume that my mother would have never considered aborting me (not flushing - flushing generally happens when you have a miscarriage.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317.md?page=2)