Bill Maher: The Prophet We Need?

HBO’s Real Time host and longtime leftist Bill Maher made headlines this past weekend when he chastised Republicans’ ever-shifting stance on abortion in a panel discussion on the Arizona Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling upholding a near-total abortion ban. The Arizona Court took up the case in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Republicans, including former President Trump, rightly take credit for.

This historic event in the State of Arizona should have been unabashedly celebrated by all Republicans, serving as a springboard from which conservative candidates everywhere can double down in their support for life at all stages as the 2024 election cycle heats up. Instead, it was met by an extremely disappointing, though predictable, mixed reaction on the conservative side of the aisle. 

President Trump expressed his opposition to the ruling, responding, “No,” when asked by reporters on a tarmac in Atlanta whether he would sign a national abortion ban if Congress sent it to his desk. Just days before, he clarified his position on abortion, stating that the issue belongs to the individual states to decide. “Many states will have a different number of weeks,” he explained. “[A]t the end of the day it is all about the will of the people.” The will of the people? Whether the most innocent among us have a fundamental right to life should be determined by the will of the people? 

Kari Lake, former conservative darling and Arizona U.S. Senate candidate, responded unequivocally to the ruling, stating, “I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on [Democratic Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common-sense solution that Arizonans can support.” Common sense? Is it common sense to permit the direct killing of another at any stage of development?

Unsurprisingly, Maher is vehemently in favor of abortion and strongly opposed to the court’s decision. Generally speaking, I don’t trust a single word with respect to policy that comes out of the mouth of someone who can’t get this most very fundamental right-to-life issue correct, which apparently now includes most Republican candidates. If you can’t recognize and support this basic principle, why should I expect you to get anything else right? In this case, however, Bill Maher’s comments are exactly what we who profess to be pro-life need to hear. They are, dare I say, prophetic. 

Referring to Republicans as “the dog who caught the car” with respect to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Maher went on to say: 

For 50 years, they talked about getting rid of abortion. They did it and it’s super unpopular, and now they have to basically lie. I mean, Trump—some of his statements on this—it sounds like what he said about healthcare: “Make both sides happy…15 weeks seems to be a number people can agree.” Can he lie his way out of this?…A lot of people think it’s murder. That’s why I don’t understand the 15-week thing, or Trump’s plan is, “Let’s leave it to the states.” You mean, so killing babies is OK in some states? I can respect the absolutist position. I really can. I scold the left when they say, “Oh, you know what, they just hate women, people who aren’t pro-choice.” They don’t hate women. They just made that up. …They think it’s murder and it kind of is. I’m just OK with that. I am. I mean, there’s 8 billion people in the world. I’m sorry, we won’t miss you. That’s my position on it.

Yes, Bill Maher. Republicans are lying. They aren’t pro-life; they are politically expedient, and the public is finally waking up to the real “common-sense” approach to abortion: that if it’s okay to murder a baby at 15 weeks gestation, why not 39? That is why we are losing massive ground on this issue, notwithstanding our victory in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

I welcome Maher’s comments with open arms, as repulsive as it is to hear someone flatly admit they’re okay with murder since the victims won’t be missed among the 8 billion other people in the world. If Maher can respect the pro-life absolutist position—that it’s intrinsically evil to willfully take a human life at any stage for any reason whatsoever—then I can respect the pro-abortion absolutist position—that a woman has a right to kill her unborn child at any point in her pregnancy—even if it sickens me to my very core. I vehemently reject it and will fight it with every ounce of strength in my body, but at least it’s honest. At least it’s consistent. 

Thank you, Bill Maher, for finally saying the quiet part out loud, for forcing Republicans to grapple with their lies. I am, frankly, sick and tired of such hogwash as “political expediency” and “common-sense” solutions from those on the conservative side of the aisle, views expressed even by some popular Catholic policy wonks. The idea seems to be that the general public is so poorly catechized on the issue of abortion that we have to take our wins where we can, compromising at stages of life like 15 weeks so that we can live to fight another day and hopefully convert a few more to the pro-life side in the meantime. 

Newsflash: 90 percent of abortions occur before 12 weeks gestation. How pro-life is it really to set the bar at 15 weeks? We’re okay with it so long as the babies are really small? We will permit and compromise with evil so we can stay in office and wait another 50 years for an opportunity for massive change like we did with Roe? Are we working for the City of Man or the City of God here? 

“Pro-life” Republicans who are willing to equivocate on this issue are thinking as the world does, not as God does. O ye of little faith, “do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.” Be willing to be honest on the pro-life position, I beg you. Be consistent. Have courage, and put your faith in the Lord. We aren’t fighting against flesh and blood here, “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” 

The Kingdom of God will not be won by political expediency. Stand firm in Truth. Do not retreat. Do not compromise. The Lord, Himself, will fight for us.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images for Vanity Fair]