Jimmy Kimmel’s wife interrupts monologue to issue plea on abortion rights

Jimmy Kimmel Live was interrupted by an alarm during the host’s monologue on Monday (7 November) night.

Kimmel’s wife and co-head writer on the show, Molly McNearney, then took to the stage to announce she was “sounding the alarm” because “tomorrow is Election Day” in the United States, and “abortion rights are gone or in danger in 26 states, even though the majority of people in this country support a woman’s right to choose”.

The US midterm elections are taking place months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, returning the decision on whether to allow abortion procedures back to individual states.

“Being a mom is the best and the hardest job on the planet,” McNearney, who shares two children with Kimmel, told the audience. “I can’t imagine forcing any woman who doesn’t want that job to take it against her will.”

Letting viewers know that her speech was “not going to be funny” – as is expected in Kimmel’s opening remarks – McNearney continued: “The only person who should be making a life-altering, potentially life-saving decision for a woman and her body is the woman herself.

“I’m not here with this dumb alarm asking you guys to love abortion. I’m asking you to love women enough to trust women enough to make their own difficult decisions and to vote for the people who will make that happen tomorrow. Our daughters should not have to fight the battles that our grandmothers won.”

Kimmel recently claimed that he lost half of his fanbase due to his regular derision of former Republican president Donald Trump.

The talk show host said he threatened to leave his post after ABC executives warned him to lay off the then-president.