[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11036-S11037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             AMAZING GRACE

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I am troubled today. I am troubled because 
I find myself standing on the Senate floor once again raising an issue 
that cuts to the very core of human cruelty and moral disregard. I have 
stood here before, many of my colleagues have stood here before, 
repeatedly speaking about my strong belief that the partial-birth 
abortion procedure is wrong. Not only is it wrong, it is evil. The 
procedure is a reprehensible act of human violence, violence against a 
human being.
  I recently stood here not too many weeks ago and told Members of the 
Senate about a helpless baby named ``Hope.'' On April 6, 1999, Baby 
Hope's mother entered a Dayton, OH, abortion clinic with the intention 
of having her pregnancy terminated through a partial-birth abortion. 
However, the abortion did not succeed.
  Here is what happened: Dr. Haskell, who we have heard so much about 
on the Senate floor, the infamous Dayton abortionist, started the 
procedure as

[[Page S11037]]

usual by inserting instruments known as laminaria into the woman and by 
applying seaweed. This process is supposed to slowly dilate the cervix 
so the child eventually can be removed and killed. That is the 
procedure. That is what they do.
  After this initial step, in this particular instance, Dr. Haskell 
sent the woman home because it usually takes 2 or 3 days before the 
baby can be removed from the womb and the abortion completed. Expecting 
to return in 2 or 3 days, this woman followed the doctor's orders and 
went home to Cincinnati.
  Soon after she left the abortion clinic, her cervix started dilating 
too quickly, causing her to go into labor. Shortly after midnight, on 
the first day of the procedure, she entered the hospital and gave birth 
to a very much alive but very tiny baby. The neonatologist determined 
that Baby Hope's lungs were too underdeveloped to sustain life without 
the help of a respirator. Baby Hope, however, was not placed on a 
respirator. Instead, the poor, defenseless creature was left to die 
only a little more than 3 hours after birth.

  I am back on the floor again today because we now, tragically, have 
another example of a partial-birth abortion in Ohio that did not go 
according to the abortionist's plan, this one occurring on August 19, a 
couple of weeks ago.
  The Dayton Daily News reported this incident. The procedure was again 
at the hands of Dr. Haskell. Here, too, he started the barbaric 
procedure by dilating the mother's cervix. Similarly, this woman went 
into labor only 1 hour later, was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital, 
and gave birth to a baby girl a short time later. This time, however, a 
miracle occurred. This little baby lived.
  A medical technician appropriately named this precious little ``Baby 
Grace.'' After her birth, she was transferred to a neonatal intensive 
care unit at Children's Hospital in Dayton. The Montgomery County 
Children's Services Board has temporary, interim custody of little Baby 
Grace. She likely will face months of hospitalization and possible 
lifelong complications, we don't know, all resulting from being 
premature and the induced abortion.
  I am appalled and sickened by the fact that both of these partial-
birth abortions occurred anywhere. I am particularly offended by the 
fact they occurred in my home State of Ohio. But wherever they occur, 
it is a human tragedy.
  I have said this before and I will say it again; the partial-birth 
abortion should be outlawed. Partial-birth abortion should be outlawed 
in our civilized society.
  When we hear about the brutal death of Baby Hope and we think about 
the miracle of Baby Grace, we have to stop and ask, to what depths have 
we sunk in this country? Partial-birth abortion is a very clear matter 
of right and wrong, good versus evil. It is my wish there will come a 
day, I hope and pray, when I no longer have to come to this Senate 
floor and talk about partial-birth abortions. Until that day arrives, 
the day when the procedure has been outlawed in our country, I must 
continue to plead for the protection of unborn fetuses threatened by 
partial-birth abortions.
  In the name of Baby Hope, let's stop the killing. In the name of Baby 
Grace, let's protect the living.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________