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Saturday Night Live " tackled the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion on Roe v. Wade this week. - Kate McKinnon played Justice Amy Coney Barrett to discuss Roe v. Wade on "Weekend Update."
This weekend's episode of "Saturday Night Live" took aim at the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion on Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made access to legal and safe
The cast of "SNL" used its Mother's Day episode, hosted by Benedict Cumberbatch with musical guest Arcade Fire, to tackle the issue in several ways.
The show's opening sketch traveled back to medieval times to mock the leaked draft opinion
In the show's cold open, Cumberbatch and cast members Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Chris Redd, Alex Moffat, and Andrew Dismukes took viewers back to 13th-century England, where the show suggested Justice Samuel Alito drew his inspiration for the leaked draft opinion he purportedly authored.
A narrator introduced the audience to the sketch, saying, "We now go to that profound moment of moral clarity, almost a thousand years ago, which laid such a clear foundation for what our laws should be in 2022."
While discussing ideas for abortion law, Cumberbatch's character said sarcastically, "We should make a law that would stand the test of time so that hundreds and hundreds of years from now, they'll look back and say, 'No need to update this one at all. They nailed it back in 1235.'"
Kate McKinnon played Justice Amy Coney Barrett while discussing Roe v. Wade on "Weekend Update"
On the show's satirical
McKinnon continued: "You are a murderer if you have an abortion, but you're not a murderer if you put a baby in a bag in a mailbox ... I have seven children and a job and I make it work, so why every single other woman can't do the same is beyond me — unless I'm missing something about class in America."
Arcade Fire's lead singer Win Butler made a statement about women's rights
After Arcade Fire finished performing their single "The Lightning I, II," Butler said to the crowd, "Women's right to choose forever and ever and ever, amen."
The musician also played with a guitar that read "Call your mom" and "1973," a reference to the year the decision on Roe v. Wade was passed.
Cumberbatch and several cast members also closed the show in T-shirts that referenced the historic ruling
—Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) May 8, 2022
Cumberbatch and cast members like Strong and Mikey Day also wore shirts that read "1973" while closing the show.