[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MARGIE JANOVICH'S SACRIFICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Christensen] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, 1 week ago today, we buried a lady from 
my district by the name of Margie Janovich. The story of Margie 
Janovich I shared last week with the American people, a story that she 
had struggled with the fight of cancer for 18 months, but I wanted to 
come back today and share the story again because it is such a moving 
story and tomorrow is the beginning of the debate with the partial 
birth abortion bill.
  Margie's story, for those of you who have not heard, this is a 
family, Margie and her husband Joe had 9 children in this picture and I 
do not know, Mr. Speaker, if the camera can get a picture of this or 
not, but Margie was 44 years old when she passed away last week, and 
Margie died of cancer. She had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and 
at the time that Margie was diagnosed with thyroid cancer she was 5\1/
2\ months pregnant. As a matter of fact, she was pregnant with this 
little gal, Mary.
  Well, Margie, because of her pro-life views and because she believes 
that life is the most sacred thing that could ever be given from God, 
said she was going to forgo cancer treatments so she would not risk 
hurting her unborn child. And so she waited until little Mary was born 
and the thyroid cancer spread. It spread to her breasts and into her 
lungs and 18 months later it eventually took her life.
  But before it took her life, her 9 children, Nick and Tina, Jim and 
Terry and Mike and Joe and Danny and Andy and precious little Mary, 
experienced something that few children in America experience, and that 
is a mother who not only loved them but gave her life for them. And 
someday when her husband Ron sits down to tell little Mary what act of 
sacrifice and what her mother did to deliver Mary safely into a world, 
into a country that does not value life, I think it will be a story 
that will touch Mary forever.
  As I think of tomorrow's debate, and think of the 25 million children 
we have murdered in America because of convenience, because of choice, 
I think of my conversation with Margie Janovich 1 week before she 
passed away. She always had a smile on her face, and when I went in to 
visit her in the hospital she asked me now, are we going to have the 
votes this year to override a veto on the partial birth abortion? She 
always was thinking about how we could protect more lives. She was 
always thinking about someone else, thinking about her family, thinking 
about her children and thinking about the unborn.
  I had a chance this week on Sunday to go over and see Ron and see the 
kids, I saw Andy and Danny and Tina. It has been a difficult 18 months 
for them, but they have experienced something because of what their 
mother gave that few children in America will be able to experience, 
and that is the love of a mother for her children. I think of the issue 
of convenience, and I think of the issue of sacrifice, because that is 
really what abortion is all about.
  It is about a choice, but the choice occurs prior, prior to 
conception. The choice occurs whether or not you are going to get into 
bed with someone. The choice occurs far before the issue of an unborn 
life. And Margie Janovich understood this choice. She understood the 
choice of life. She understood the issue of taking an unborn life, and 
she decided for her the best thing to do would be to protect life.
  But even under the partial birth abortion bill that we are going to 
be debating tomorrow, Margie could have taken the route of an abortion, 
because her life was in danger. So the bill tomorrow that we are going 
to be debating would have allowed for that exception. You will hear a 
lot of rhetoric tomorrow about an amendment talking about health of the 
mother. But the health of the mother could be anything, from emotional 
distress to financial distress, to a number of things.
  I hope that the American people are watching tonight as they decide 
to call and to get active and get involved and call their 
Representatives, because tomorrow is the debate, and tomorrow as we 
decide, I hope the American people will remember Margie Janovich and 
her 9 children and the sacrifice that she made for her little baby, 
Mary.

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