'SNL' tackles Roe v. Wade as Benedict Cumberbatch heads back to 13th century for 'moral clarity'

Little surprise that "Saturday Night Live" kicked off its Mother's Day episode by tackling one of the biggest news stories of the year: the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion suggesting justices are poised to strike down 1973's Roe v. Wade, which guarantees the right to abortion.

The sketch opened with a voiceover referring to Justice Samuel Alito citing a medieval jurist in his argument to overturn the decision. Cut to Benedict Cumberbatch, in his second time as host, as a 13th-century townsman with a bowl haircut, holding forth with two other simpletons on abortion to provide "moral clarity."

Perhaps a law should be created, suggests Andrew Dismukes, "like the one we have against wearing pointy shoes."

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"We should make a law," says Cumberbatch, "that will stand the test of time, so that hundreds and hundreds of years from now, they'll say: No need to update this at all, they nailed it in 1235."

You get the gist. Cecily Strong joins in on the fun, saying, "I have a couple of questions," to which Cumberbatch deadpans: "Margaret, don't make us make another hole in your skull so your brain can breathe."

Then Kate McKinnon swoops into view. "An ogre!" the simpletons cry out. "No," she says, "I'm just a woman in her 30s."

On a more serious note, her character lands with a plea: "No matter how many choices they take away from women, we always have the choice to keep fighting."

The simpletons conclude that she's a witch and she must be set on fire.

Later on the show, Kate McKinnon made her debut as Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on “Weekend Update,” sharing her satisfaction with the decision.

“If you get pregnant and you’re not married, you don’t have to go to some weird convent anymore,” McKinnon’s Barrett told anchor Colin Jost, noting safe haven laws. “You can leave a baby anywhere in the United States. What’s the big deal? … Do your nine, leave it on the sidewalk."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL' riffs on Roe v Wade, Amy Coney Barrett with Benedict Cumberbatch