[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 137 (Wednesday, October 1, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

  (Mr. RYUN of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, partial-birth abortion is a risky 
procedure. A doctor blindly stabbing scissors into a baby's skull 
leaves too much room for error. A small slip can have life-threatening 
consequences for the woman.
  Women deserve better. They deserve better than being subjected to a 
procedure as horrific as a partial-birth abortion. They deserve better 
than enduring a painful 3-day process that puts their health in 
jeopardy.
  But women usually do not choose to have partial-birth abortions. It 
is done to them because, as in the words of Dr. Martin Haskell he 
finds, ``dismemberment at 20 weeks and beyond to be difficult due to 
the toughness of fetal tissues at this stage.'' It also spares the 
abortionist the messy task of counting baby body parts.
  And contrary to what many Americans think, a partial-birth abortion 
may be legally performed up until the day a healthy baby is born for 
virtually any reason.
  I oppose this violent procedure for many reasons, but everyone should 
oppose it for this reason alone, because women deserve much better. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in voting this week to ban partial-birth 
abortions forever.

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