# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/21 "2013-06-19T12:56:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You had a 50-50 chance or so. Be glad you were on the right side of that coin flip. If your amazing 50-50 turns out to be true somehow\*, the millennials are likely to respond with relief that their parents’ generation didn’t stupidly allow twice as many babies to be born into their world. \*You do know, right, that just because there are two options, this does not make the odds 50-50? ---
**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, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/22 "2013-06-19T13:11:16Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If your amazing 50-50 turns out to be true somehow\*, the millennials are likely to respond with relief that their parents’ generation didn’t stupidly allow twice as many babies to be born into their world. > > \*You do know, right, that just because there are two options, this does not make the odds 50-50? This is like that Large Hadron Collider destroying the world. It was either going to destroy the world when it got turned on, or it wasn’t. 50-50 chance! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/23 "2013-06-19T13:54:09Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If your amazing 50-50 turns out to be true somehow\*, the millennials are likely to respond with relief that their parents’ generation didn’t stupidly allow twice as many babies to be born into their world. > > \*You do know, right, that just because there are two options, this does not make the odds 50-50? They think it’s hard to find a job _now_… just think if there were twice as many of them. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/24 "2013-06-19T14:00:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > 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. This is such a perfect example of conservatives not understanding their audience at all. I think making abortion funny has a better change of working than this approach. Why would someone who supports abortion rights even care if her mother had an abortion? It does fascinate me, though. I had always kind of suspected that my mother had a miscarriage before she had me. But when I had the opportunity to ask her directly, she said she had not. It never occurred to me to ask if she had had an abortion, probably because it would have been illegal at the time. But I can definitely see it – she has been a strong feminist and abortion rights supporter all my life. If she did, it worked out well for me, since I got to be the oldest child. Of course, I was assuming because of circumstances that we were talking about my mother being pregnant by my father. If the father was another man, that would have been a whole different story. The trajectory of my mother’s life, and therefore of mine, was entirely shaped by her relationship with my father. What if she had gotten pregnant before she met him, and been unable to have an abortion? What if he had not been supportive of her feminism and career goals the way my father was? I probably wouldn’t exist, and if I did, it would be under entirely different circumstances. No, if anything, the “What if your mother had an abortion?” approach only solidifies my support for abortion rights. But thanks for giving me an interesting new perspective, and a greater appreciation of my parents and their choices. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/25 "2013-06-19T14:28:44Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If your amazing 50-50 turns out to be true somehow\*, the millennials are likely to respond with relief that their parents’ generation didn’t stupidly allow twice as many babies to be born into their world. I could be even worse – if it weren’t for the churches telling people that (unsanctioned) sex is a sin, there would be even _more_ babies. I don’t see the difference between mourning the loss of the aborted members of my generation and the members of my generation lost to their potential parents selfishly being convinced not to fuck in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/26 "2013-06-19T14:28:51Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You had a 50-50 chance or so. Be glad you were on the right side of that coin flip. Conservatives must have orgasms when they lose elections. I think that’s the only explanation. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/27 "2013-06-19T14:45:55Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m trying to think of a funny abortion joke but drawing a blank. Did you hear what happened when Mary of Nazareth had an abortion? She was pregnant again three days later. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/28 "2013-06-19T15:11:56Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I could be even worse – if it weren’t for the churches telling people that (unsanctioned) sex is a sin, there would be even _more_ babies. > > I don’t see the difference between mourning the loss of the aborted members of my generation and the members of my generation lost to their potential parents selfishly being convinced not to fuck in the first place. Its never occurred to me to mourn either. When it has occurred to me that there are some sort of lack of potential people out there, I’m grateful that people who didn’t want children didn’t have them - as a Mom of two, raising wanted children is hard enough and having them turn into people of character isn’t a simple matter of letting them exist. As someone who was miserable pregnant, I’m grateful our society gives us the choice to control our bodies. As an adoptive parent, I’m happy our son exists, but if this wasn’t our son, a different child would be our child and we wouldn’t know. And I’m SO happy that there is a shortage of children to adopt, because a surplus of children is so very sad - much more tragic than a childless couple who would adopt. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/29 "2013-06-19T15:20:29Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > 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. So you’re saying that, unlike the children of pro-life parents who couldn’t choose whether or not to have an abortion, _I_ was wanted? Hey thanks! ---
**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, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/30 "2013-06-19T15:24:30Z")
Republicans would have trouble making farts funny, and they think they are up to making people laugh about abortions? It’s good to have goals to strive for, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/31 "2013-06-19T15:56:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Did you hear what happened when Mary of Nazareth had an abortion? > > She was pregnant again three days later. This is horrible. _writes it down_ ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/32 "2013-06-19T16:28:58Z")
Dear God, they’re not going to unleash Dennis Miller on us, are they? Or that other guy, the other really funny conservative comedian? No, I don’t know, I thought maybe you did? ---
**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, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/33 "2013-06-19T16:33:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Dear God, they’re not going to unleash Dennis Miller on us, are they? Or that other guy, the other really funny conservative comedian? No, I don’t know, I thought maybe you did? You remind me actually of one of the Lewis Black skits about getting old. “You know, the guy? The guy that was in that movie? With that girl! That guy! The guy!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/34 "2013-06-19T16:38:28Z")
Between my brother and I came a “sister” who was aborted during the first trimester. I’ve never had a problem with that, particularly considering my mother was firm about having only two kids and had her tubes tied after I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/35 "2013-06-19T16:45:54Z")
You ever notice how white babies are aborted like _this_[pantomime an abortion], but black babies are aborted like _this_[pantomime a different abortion]? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/36 "2013-06-19T16:46:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Did you hear what happened when Mary of Nazareth had an abortion? > > She was pregnant again three days later. I didn’t get this at first for some reason, but yeah, this is a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/37 "2013-06-19T16:50:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > 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. Assuming your stat is true and meaningful, and that your prediction is accurate, that in no way proves that they’re open to “the conservative agenda.” Maybe they’ll react by becoming even more leftist, who knows? Take abortion(… please). Possible disenchantment for Obama’s policies suddenly means they’re more open to being pro-life? Not liking something the current Democratic president does puts the entirety of liberal social thought into question? While I’m sure it must be true for SOMEONE somewhere, I’m not sure how much that number is significant, and I’m not sure how much they can take advantage of that number if this is how conservatives are reacting. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/38 "2013-06-19T16:53:54Z")
When your pregnancy test is an archangel, its not like you got a lot of options. You want to piss off God? Read the Old Testament lately? Adultery, that’s a smiting. False witness, that’s a smiting. Aborting the Son of God Almighty, you better _believe_ that’s a smiting… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/39 "2013-06-19T16:56:34Z")
The House Bill today was pretty funny, in a “keep pluckin that chicken” way. Way to spend your time on meaningful legislation! That passing-the-senate thing, how’s that workin’ out for ya? ---
**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, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/40 "2013-06-19T16:57:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > When your pregnancy test is an archangel, its not like you got a lot of options. You want to piss off God? Read the Old Testament lately? Adultery, that’s a smiting. False witness, that’s a smiting. Aborting the Son of God Almighty, you better _believe_ that’s a smiting… Yabbut God aborted children left and right and sometimes worse! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317.md?page=3)