[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PRESIDENT CLINTON TAKES EXTREME POSITION ON VETO OF PARTIAL BIRTH 
                              ABORTION BAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Chabot] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, like many of my colleagues, I am 
unapologetically pro-life. Recently we were joined by a number of our 
pro-choice colleagues in voting to outlaw partial birth abortions. 
Those folks also believed the procedure to be violent and gruesome and 
in no way consistent with their views that some abortions ought to be 
legal.
  President Clinton, on the other hand, who has often said that he 
personally opposes abortion, says that he believes abortion ought to be 
legal but rare. In this particular instance I think he has finally 
shown his true colors. He has reached out to the most radical of the 
pro-abortion lobby by vetoing the partial birth abortion bill. The veto 
was a slap in the face to all of those who respect human life.
  The President has shown once and for all that he favors abortion on 
demand, even in the final weeks of pregnancy, and that is a tragically 
extreme position.
  I would remind my colleagues that the partial birth abortion ban was 
supported by 288 Members of this body, both Republicans and Democrats. 
Most thoughtful legislators did not consider the bill to be 
controversial and agreed it was something long overdue, a prohibition 
on a particularly grotesque and inhumane practice, yet the President 
did not see it that way.
  Let us recap for a moment what it is we are talking about here. A 
partial birth abortion is performed by using forceps to pull a living 
baby, feet first, through the birth canal until the baby's body is 
exposed, leaving the head just within the uterus. The abortionist then 
forces surgical scissors into the base of the skull, creating an 
incision through which he then inserts a suction tube to evacuate the 
brain tissue from the baby. This causes the skull to collapse, allowing 
the baby to be pulled from the birth canal.
  The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act would outlaw such abortions. The 
President, who says that abortions should be rare, says that there is 
no question this is a gruesome procedure. The President says that 
abortions should be rare, but he vetoed this particular legislation. I 
think that was outrageous.
  Mr. Speaker, I will say one thing for the President, however, he has 
been consistent. He says one thing and then does another. He promised 
to end welfare as we know it. He vetoed welfare reform. He promised the 
middle-class tax cut and then he vetoed the middle-class tax cut that 
was passed by this Congress. He said that abortion should be rare, but 
his record shows that he supports abortions on demand at any time for 
any reason.
  I would agree with Robert Casey, the former Democratic Governor of 
Pennsylvania, who said President Clinton says he wants abortions to be 
safe, legal, and rare, but he has helped make it safe, legal, and 
everywhere. Yesterday Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla, president of the 
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by eight American 
cardinals, sent an extremely thoughtful, strongly worded letter to 
President Clinton in response to the President's veto, and I would like 
to quote from that letter at this time.
  In the letter the bishop stated as follows: Your veto of this bill is 
beyond comprehension for those who hold human life sacred. It will 
ensure the continued use of the most heinous act to kill a tiny infant 
just seconds from taking his or her first breath outside the womb.

  And the letter goes on: At the veto ceremony, you told the American 
people that you had no choice but to veto the bill. Mr. President, you 
and you alone have a choice of whether or not to allow children almost 
completely born to be killed brutally in partial birth abortions. 
Members of both Houses of Congress made their choice. They said no to 
partial birth abortions. Your choice was to say yes and to allow this 
killing more akin to infanticide than abortion to continue.
  That is what the Catholic bishops had to say to the President of the 
United States. It would be an understatement to say that I am 
disappointed and saddened by President Clinton's unconscionable veto of 
the partial birth abortion ban. I think my sentiments are shared by 
many, including a large number of people who consider themselves to be 
pro-choice, and I cannot stress in strong enough terms my hope that 
this Congress when it is given the opportunity will vote to override 
the President's veto.
  Mr. Speaker, we cast hundreds of votes in this body every year. This 
vote will not be forgotten and we hope that we override this terrible 
veto the President made.

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