Last week Arizona signed a new bill into law that prohibits abortion past the 20 week gestation mark. The impact of this bill is that hundreds of Arizona women will be forced to go out of state if they need a late-term abortion.
In addition to the gestation limit, the bill includes a ridiculous definition of the term “conception.” Comedy troupe Bottom of the Barrel pokes a little fun of that definition in one of their comedy skits.
I caught up with Bottom of the Barrel to ask them a little bit more about their take on Arizona’s new abortion law.
1. How long has Bottom of the Barrel been doing comedy together?
Justin: We’ve been making sketches for a little over a year, but we’ve been making fun of the ridiculous things that idiots say and do (including ourselves) for our entire lives. It’s what brought us together in the first place.
Simone: We’ve all been writing for a long time, but we met in film school where we were constantly making and being trained to make short films. So, we were set up pretty well to make our own sketches and to give them quality. The three of us live in Los Angeles now and we’re putting out new material every week.
2. What was the inspiration for making this video about Arizona?
Shane: Women’s rights is being curtailed so much in this country right now. In the sketch we characterize these people as crazy, but really they are very, very smart people. They know the loopholes to make most people believe it’s the sensible thing to do. As a guy, it’s hard to know where we fit in with these issues. As a sketch comedy group that deals mostly with immature nonsense, it’s really easy.
Simone: And as a girl in a sketch comedy group, there’s almost no avoiding it.
3. What do you hope the response from viewers will be?
Shane: It’s hard to read the news about Arizona and not be furious, so if we can throw a little humor into the mix, maybe it’s a more manageable pill to swallow.
Simone: Be careful, Shane. They don’t like pills in Arizona either.
Justin: They can love us or hate us for it, just as long as they watch it twice and tell their friends.
One of the ideas we’ve been toying with here at Feminists for Choice is that folks could send crocheted uteri to Arizona’s lawmakers to express their disgust. Governor Jan Brewer has refused to sign any bills into law until the state legislature sets a budget. The one exception to that stand was the abortion bill. So yeah . . . let’s all tell her to fuck off, one crocheted uterus at a time. More details on that next week!
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Serena is a freelance writer who enjoys baking, protesting, and playing with little dogs. |
Okay, I officially love these guys! “Be careful, Shane. They don’t like pills in Arizona either.” Ha!
A recent Gallup poll shows that most Americans are in favor of the Arizona Immigration Law. Most Americans want to see the number of illegal immigrants in America decreased and Arizona being on the border has the power to do that. It’s obvious that the Supreme Court is going to uphold this law.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with immigration, Sandra. Try reading complete sentences. You might find it useful.
Its not actually obvious that the Supreme Court is going to uphold the Arizona law. There is a Constitutional premise called preemption and the Supreme Court has previously ruled that the federal government has implied field preemption in the field of immigration. So to rule the Arizona law valid the Supreme Court will have to overturn many years of established precedent.
That skit was so stupid! “Life begins when you think about having sex, who is saying that? Nobody. If you take a Life-span Development course in college, which is required for nursing and many other medical programs, life begins at conception. Women that drink, smoke, and take drungs while pregnant harm their babies before they are born a great deal. How is this possible if there is no life in the womb? Argue with the science, not the politics.