[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 72 (Thursday, May 20, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5985-S5986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Bunning, Mr. 
        Burns, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Crapo, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
        Enzi, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Graham of South Carolina, Mr. 
        Grassley, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Kyl, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Miller, Mr. 
        Nickles, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shelby, 
        Mr. Talent, Mr. Chambliss, and Mr. Inhofe):
  S. 2466. A bill to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully 
informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
bipartisan Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, and I am joined by 22 
original cosponsors.
  Unborn children can experience pain, and they can certainly respond 
to touch from outside the womb. Any woman who has been blessed with 
carrying a baby in the second trimester can tell you this.
  I remember my own children kicking and squirming inside of my wife's 
womb. And my wife certainly remembers feeling their kicks. That unborn 
child is very much alive. All along, women have been able to feel the 
child inside of them, but now, science is telling us what the child 
inside of his or her mother can feel.
  Many among us are unaware of the scientific, medical fact that unborn 
children can feel, but it is true. Not only can they feel, but their 
ability to experience pain is heightened. The highest density of pain 
receptors per square inch of skin in human development occurs in utero 
from 20 to 30 weeks gestation.
  An expert report on fetal development, prepared for the Partial Birth 
Abortion Ban trials, notes that while unborn children are obviously 
incapable of verbal expressions, we know that they can experience pain 
based upon anatomical, functional, physiological and behavioral 
indicators that are correlated with pain in children and adults.
  Unborn children can experience pain. This is why unborn children are 
often administered anesthesia during in utero surgeries.
  Think about the pain that unborn children can experience, and then 
think about the more gruesome abortion procedures. Of course, we have 
heard about Partial Birth Abortion, but also consider the D&E abortion. 
During this procedure, commonly performed after 20-weeks--when there is 
medical evidence that the child can experience severe pain--the child 
is torn apart limb from limb. Think about how that must feel to a young 
human.
  We would never allow a dog to be treated this way. Yet, the creature 
we are talking about is a young, unborn child.
  Fortunately, the issue of pain experienced by unborn children has 
been covered by the news media during the ongoing Partial Birth 
Abortion Ban trials. Take for instance an April 7, 2004 Associated 
Press news article covering the trials. And I quote: ``A type of 
abortion banned under a new federal law would cause `severe and 
excruciating' pain to 20-week-old fetuses, a medical expert testified 
yesterday . . . `I believe the fetus is conscious,' said Dr. Kanwaljeet 
`Sonny' Anand, a pediatrician at the University of Arkansas for Medical 
Sciences . . . said yesterday that fetuses show increased heart rate, 
blood flow, and hormone levels in response to pain. `The physiological 
responses have been very clearly studied,' he said. `The fetus cannot 
talk . . . so this is the best evidence we can get.''
  Today I introduce a bill that would require those who perform 
abortions on unborn children 20 weeks after fertilization to inform the 
woman seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child 
feels pain: (a.) Through a verbal statement given by the abortion 
provider, and also (b.) by providing a brochure--developed by the 
Department of Health and Human Services--that goes into more detail 
than the verbal statement on the medical evidence of pain experienced 
by an unborn child 20 weeks after fertilization.
  The bill would also ensure that the woman, if she chooses to continue 
with

[[Page S5986]]

the abortion procedure after being given the medical information, has 
the option of choosing anesthesia for the child, so that the unborn 
child's pain is less severe.
  Women should not be kept in the dark; women have the right to know 
what their unborn child experiences during an abortion. After being 
presented with the medical and scientific information on the 
development of the unborn child 20 weeks after fertilization, the woman 
is more aware of the pain experienced by the child during an abortion 
procedure, and able--at the very least--to make an informed decision. 
It is simply not fair to keep women in the dark.
  Unborn children do not have a voice, but they are young members of 
the human family. It is time to look at the unborn child, and recognize 
that it is really a young human, who can feel pain and should be 
treated with care.
  I urge my colleagues to support and pass this important piece of 
legislation.
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