[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION IS TOTAL OUTRAGE

                                 ______


                          HON. MARTIN R. HOKE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 29, 1996

  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, during the Vietnam war, journalists opposed to 
United States involvement sought to ``bring the war into our living 
rooms'' by showing images of the carnage and suffering on the nightly 
news. It made for disturbing viewing, but was effective in turning 
American public opinion against the war. It is in that tradition that I 
share with you the following description of something called partial-
birth abortion, one of the most inhumane acts imaginable.
  In this very late-term procedure, a breech position, feet first--
labor is drug-induced and the baby is completely delivered except for 
the head. The baby is now moments and inches from birth--and from all 
the protections afforded by Federal and State law. But the birth is 
interrupted. The head is forced to remain in the canal. The base of the 
skull is then punctured, a vacuum catheter is inserted into the head, 
and the contents are suctioned out. The skull collapses, the baby dies, 
and the abortion is complete.
  On April 10, President Clinton vetoed a bill passed by large 
majorities in each Chamber of Congress that would have outlawed this 
practice, a bill I was proud to help write as a member of the Judiciary 
Committee.
  The President defended his veto on the grounds that the bill did not 
provide an exception for the health of the mother. But he knows full 
well that the Supreme Court has defined maternal health as ``all 
factors--physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's 
age--relevant to the well-being of the patient.'' In other words, a 
health exception--which is synonymous with abortion-on-demand--would 
have gutted the bill. Also, the bill does provide an exception to save 
the life of the mother, even though in reality this grotesque procedure 
is never the only option available.
  In response to this outrage, the Vatican took the unusual step of 
condemning the President's veto, calling it shameful and an incredibly 
brutal act of aggression against human life. It warned that legalizing 
partial-birth abortions ``endangers morally and ethically the future of 
the society that allows it.''
  In addition, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, headed by 
Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland, wrote this stinging rebuke: ``Mr. 
President, you and you alone had the choice of whether or not to allow 
children, almost completely born, to be killed brutally in partial-
birth abortions. Your choice was to say yes and to allow this killing 
more akin to infanticide than abortion to continue.''
  While there may be a large difference of opinion in the way that 
Americans view the issue of abortion, on this issue they are of one 
mind. In fact, recent polls show that almost 80 percent of women and 65 
percent of those who describe themselves as pro-choice oppose partial-
birth abortions.
  By his veto the President has shown that for all his talk about 
making abortion safe, legal, and rare, he is a captive of abortion-on-
demand extremists. If he will not outlaw this heinous practice that 
affects ``only'' a thousand or so babies a year, he will never support 
any abortion restrictions.
  One thing is certain, this issue will not go away. President Clinton 
will have to explain why, when it came time to choose between the 
culture of life and the culture of death, he chose death.

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