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  • 2022-06-24 (xsd:date)
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  • George Carlin: 'Rights Aren't Rights If Someone Can Take Them Away' (en)
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  • On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended a women's constitutional right to an abortion in the country. As politicians and social media commentators weighed in on the decision, a quote from comedian George Carlin started to circulate: This is a genuine quote from Carlin. The statement — Rights aren't rights if they can be taken away. They're privileges. That's all we've ever had in this country: A bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news, even badly you know that the list gets shorter and shorter — comes from Carlin's 2008 comedy special It's Bad for Ya! Carlin can be seen speaking these words at the 7:50 mark of the following video. Carlin often talked about politics during his stand-up routines. In fact, he spoke directly about abortion rights during his 1996 show HBO special Back In Town. Carlin said during that special: Here's a clip from that special: The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means that the matter of abortion will now be left up to individual states. Because several states had trigger laws, or prohibitive abortion laws that would go into effect almost immediately after Roe was overturned, abortion is now or will soon be banned in more than 20 states. NPR reported: In his concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas noted that the high court may reconsider other cases, such as Griswold and Obergefell, which respectively codified rights to contraceptives and to gay marriage. Politico reported: You can read more of Snopes' coverage on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in the thread below: (en)
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