[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 170 (Tuesday, October 31, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H11459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         VOTE AGAINST H.R. 1833, PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1833 which 
would ban second- and third-term abortions in the case of severe 
threats to the life and health of the mother and cases of severe fetal 
anomaly.
  Proponents of the bill attempt to exploit one of the greatest 
tragedies any family faces by using graphic pictures, sensationalized 
language, and distorted truths. Families facing a late-term abortion 
are families that want to have a child. These couples have chosen to 
become parents and only face the decision of abortion due to 
unavoidable circumstances.
  Unfortunately, medical testing is still not sophisticated enough to 
detect fetal anomalies until late in the pregnancies. Also, some 
illnesses such as diabetes or kidney failure can suddenly flare up and 
put the health and life of the mother at risk. The decision to abort at 
this stage in a pregnancy is agonizing and deeply personal.
  This bill is not about choice. It is about necessity. As the mother 
of three grown children, I thank God every day that my children were 
born healthy and strong. However, not everyone is so lucky.

  Yesterday my office received a call from Claudia Ades, a woman who 
lives in Santa Monica, CA. She had heard about the bill and called to 
ask me if there was anything we could do to defeat it. As Claudia said 
so passionately, ``this procedure saved my life and the life of my 
family.''
  Three years ago, Claudia was pregnant and happier than she had ever 
been in her life. However, 6 months into her pregnancy she and her 
husband discovered that the child she was carrying suffered from a 
number of severe fetal anomalies, including acute brain damage, a very 
malformed heart. It was doubtful that the child would survive birth; 
and, if it survived, its short life would be filled with pain and 
suffering.
  After speaking to a number of doctors, Claudia and her husband 
finally had to accept their view that there was no way to save this 
pregnancy. They chose to go to Dr. James McMannus because his procedure 
would allow Claudia to get pregnant in the future and would allow them 
to have a family. ``This was a desperately wanted pregnancy,'' Claudia 
said yesterday, ``but my child was just not meant to be in this 
world.''
  Who here cannot sympathize with the pain that Claudia and her family 
faced? Those of us with healthy children can only imagine the horror 
that Claudia felt when she received the news about her child's 
condition. It is the news that all mothers pray every day they will 
never have to hear.
  But in those tragic cases where families do hear this horrible news, 
who should get to decide? If, God forbid, this ever happened to me or 
somebody in my family, I would want the decision to be mine just as any 
of you would.
  The one thing that I know for sure is that the decision should not be 
made by the Congress of the United States. At that horrible, tragic 
moment the Congress, the Government, just has no place in the home, in 
the hearts, in the decisionmaking of these agonizing families.
  I beg my colleagues to think very carefully, to vote against H.R. 
1833. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is not a pro-
choice or an anti-choice issue. This tragedy can strike any family 
regardless of party affiliation.
  Defeat this bill so that women in Claudia's situation can get the 
best medical care possible. Defeat this bill because it is the right 
thing to do.

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