[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT OF 1995--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 
               OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 104-198)

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                               Speech of

                           HON. SUE W. KELLY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 1996

  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in reluctant opposition to the veto 
override of H.R. 1833.
  I am opposed to late-term abortions except in instances where they 
are necessary to save the life of the mother or for serious, very 
limited health reasons. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned 
legislation fails to make these exceptions. Tragedies involving 
severely deformed or dying fetuses sometimes occur in the late stages 
of pregnancy. In these crisis situations, women should have access to 
the safest medical procedure available, and in some occasions the 
safest such procedure is the intact dilation and evacuation procedure.
  If we ban this procedure, Mr. Speaker, as this legislation seeks to 
do, doctors will resort to other procedures, such as a caesarean 
section or a dismemberment dilation and evacuation, which can and often 
do pose greater health risks to women, such as severe hemorrhaging, 
lacerations of the uterus, or other complications that can threaten a 
woman's life or her ability to have children again in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, passage of H.R. 1833 will not end late-term abortions; 
the bill only bans one such procedure that, in the judgment of the 
doctor, might offer the surest way of protecting the mother. The New 
York chapter of the American College of Obstreticians and Gynecologists 
opposes H.R. 1833, expressing concern that ``* * * Congress would take 
any action that would supersede the medical judgment of trained 
physicians and would criminalize medical procedures that may be 
necessary to save the life of a woman * * *''.
  If H.R. 1833 were amended to include exceptions for situations where 
a woman's life or health is threatened, ensuring that decisions 
regarding the well-being of the mother are made by doctors, not 
politicians, I would gladly support the bill. Without this protection, 
however, I cannot in good conscience support this legislation today.
  Good people will always disagree over the abortion issue, and I 
respect the passion and depth of feeling that so many of my 
constituents on both sides of this issue have expressed to me. 
Maintaining policies which promote healthy mothers and healthy babies 
should remain above the political fray, and it is for this reason that 
I oppose the veto override today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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