[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3552-H3557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE SCOURGE OF ABORTION IN AMERICA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today was a very important day.
Today, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding
the Federal law protecting unborn children from partial-birth abortion.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is important for those of us in this Chamber
to first remind ourselves again of why we were really all put here.
Thomas Jefferson said, ``The care of human life and its happiness and
not its destruction is the chief and only object of good government.''
Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of our innocent citizens and their
constitutional rights is indeed why we are all here. The phrase in the
14th amendment capsulizes our entire Constitution. It says, ``No State
shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due
process of law.'' The bedrock foundation of this Republic is the belief
that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator
with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
Every conflict and battle our Nation has ever faced can be traced to
this core foundational belief on our part that every life, from the
smallest child to the elderly widow, from the strongest and bravest
soldiers on our front lines, to the weakest and most frail in our
society, every human soul is of infinite worth and entitled by God to
pursue liberty, prosperity and happiness.
But, Mr. Speaker, for 34 years, Roe v. Wade has been a desecration of
that bedrock foundation upon which America stands, and Roe v. Wade sets
itself apart from all of the other egregious decisions made by our
courts in that its result is 45 million dead American children.
Mr. Speaker, that is 15,000 times the number of lives that were lost
to terrorism on September 11; and the land of the free and the home of
the brave now stands awash in the blood of 45 million of its own
children. And it will never cease to totally astound me how we, as
Americans, fail to grasp the enormous and terrifying threat to our
Nation's survival economically, militarily, morally and spiritually
that this tragedy represents.
We have made it illegal to throw away polystyrene diapers, while it
remains for the last 34 years legal to throw away babies. How can we be
so blind to such a cataclysmic, soul-crushing tragedy?
G.K. Chesterton said once that ``Men can always be blind to a thing
as long as it is big enough.'' And, Mr. Speaker, at this very moment,
this cataclysmic heartbreak continues.
Arthur Cohen, who is perhaps the world's leading scholar on the
European Holocaust, used a Latin term to describe abortion in America.
He called it ``mysterium tremendum,'' which means an utter mystery to
the rational human mind, a mystery that carries with it not only the
aspect of vastness, but the resonance of complete terror, something so
unutterably diabolical as to be literally unknowable to us.
Mr. Speaker, following the invasion of Germany into Poland in 1939, a
Jewish man named Yitzhak Katzenelson was trapped by the Nazis in the
Warsaw ghetto. He was later transported to the Auschwitz concentration
camp, where he and his son were brutally murdered.
Before his death, he buried under a tree a song that encapsulated the
entire Nazi regime in one verse. He stated that, ``The first to perish
were the children. From these a new dawn might have arisen.'' What a
profound lesson for the rest of the world to hearken unto. A new dawn
might have arisen from those children that perished in the Holocaust.
No matter the rhetoric, Mr. Speaker, we must not ever be so blind to
the fact that each time an abortion takes place, a nameless little baby
dies a lonely death; a mother is never quite the same, whether she
realizes it or not; and all of the gifts that that child might have
brought to humanity are lost forever.
It is often said, Mr. Speaker, that a society is measured by how it
treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life, and
those in the twilight of life. Because unborn children are hidden both
in the dawn and in the shadows of life, we kill thousands of them every
day in America, using sometimes methods like partial-birth abortion
that cause so much agonizing pain that the child that is being killed,
if they were an animal, it would be illegal under Federal law to do it
the way we do it.
If we, as a human family in America, cannot find enough humanity
within ourselves to change that, if this human rights atrocity of
dismembering our own children alive is truly who we are, then the
``invincible ignorance'' Henry Hyde spoke of in this Chamber so long
ago will indeed finally prevail, the patriots' dream will be lost, and
those lying out in Arlington National Cemetery will have died in vain
and twilight will have fallen upon us all.
Mr. Speaker, that day may come in America indeed. But, sir, that day
has not come yet. It is not this day, because today, Mr. Speaker, the
world changed. Today the United States Supreme Court upheld a law
protecting unborn children from the barbaric, nightmarish procedure of
partial-birth abortion. And with this ruling comes a brilliant,
piercing ray of hope, because even though this ruling only upholds a
law that protects a small number of
[[Page H3553]]
late-term babies from this horrifying procedure called partial-birth
abortion, it represents the day that America changed direction and
turned her heart toward home.
I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this decision is part of a growing
awareness on the part of all Americans of the simple truth that
abortion takes the life of a child, and the United States of America is
bigger than abortion on demand. We are beginning to look within
ourselves and we are beginning to understand that the foundation of
this Nation is within our own hearts.
Our Nation is beginning to understand that whether it is flying
airplanes into buildings or blowing up buildings in Oklahoma City, or
whether it is raping and pillaging in Bosnia, or whether it is violence
in our streets or kidnapping little girls in broad daylight or
murdering innocent unborn children, all of these have one inescapable
common denominator, and that is the lack of respect for innocent human
life.
Americans are beginning to understand and realize that the reason
crime is so rampant in this country is because we have taught our young
people that it is all right to kill helpless unborn children. Should we
then wonder why they kill each other on the school playground?
Americans are beginning to understand that the same mentality that
allows a father to forsake his unborn child to an abortionist also
allows him to forsake his born children to the welfare state.
Americans are beginning to understand that the abortion mentality is
destroying families all over this country, and that if this epidemic of
family disintegration continues, that we in this family will bankrupt
this Nation in trying to deal with the results.
Americans are also trying to understand that there are better ways to
help young mothers than killing their children for them.
And Americans are beginning to understand that if we, as a society,
do not find or possess the courage and the will to protect innocent
unborn children, that, in the final analysis, we may never find the
will or the courage or the commitment to protect any kind of liberty
for anyone of any kind.
Mr. Speaker, the pro-life movement often compares the Roe v. Wade
decision with the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery in this
Nation. I would remind each one of us that enslaving fellow human
beings was once a practice that was perpetuated throughout the world
for thousands of years. But when slavery came to America it finally
stopped. We had a conscience on that day that changed the world.
Mr. Speaker, that part of our history should give us great hope,
because even though we face challenges today, when we look back on how
America has somehow come through each one of them, I believe that by
the grace of God, America will one day lead all nations to restore
protection to unborn children throughout the world.
Hope is a powerful thing, Mr. Speaker. One of the most powerful
messages of hope I ever saw in my life was captured in a picture I saw
a few years ago, and I cite the commentary that accompanied it. It
should be the picture of the year, or perhaps the picture of the
decade. But it won't be because unless you obtained a copy through the
Internet or the paper it was published in, you probably never saw it.
Somehow the media missed it.
The picture is that of a 21-week unborn child by the name of Samuel
Alexander Armas who is being operated on by a surgeon by the name of
Dr. Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would
not have survived if removed from his mother's womb. But little
Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She
knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical skills. Practicing at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these
special operations while the baby is still in the womb.
During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and
he makes a small incision to operate on the child. As Dr. Bruner
completed the surgery on Samuel Armas, this amazing little baby reached
out with his tiny but fully developed hand through the incision and
firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying
that when this little baby grasped his finger, that it was the most
emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the
procedure, he was completely frozen, totally immobile.
The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The
editors titled the picture ``Hand of Hope.'' They said this tiny little
hand seemed to emerge to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if
thanking him for the gift of life that he was receiving. Little
Samuel's mother said they wept for days when they saw the picture. She
said, ``The photo reminds us that pregnancy isn't about a disability or
an illness; it's about a little person.'' The operation was 100 percent
successful and Samuel was born in perfect health.
Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill said once that Americans always do the
right thing after they have exhausted every other possibility. And
today, for the first time since the evil disgrace of Roe v. Wade, we
have restored the legal protection of a very small number of those
little children who are already partially born and only moments away
from taking their first breath. It beggars human imagination that such
basic compassion and humanity was ever debatable in the first place.
But now, today, the tiny hand of hope reaches out a little closer to
us than it ever has in the past and only asks for mercy, and I hope and
pray that all of us will hear that little voice in our own hearts.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Hensarling).
{time} 2030
Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Rarely do I rise with such trepidation as I do tonight in trying to
follow the powerful eloquence of my dear friend and colleague from
Arizona (Mr. Franks). I want to thank him for the passion and clarity
that he brings to this body. And, again, my own voice is so meager
compared to his, Mr. Speaker, but I do want to come tonight and really
celebrate a great victory for life in America.
I want to thank my other colleagues with the Republican Study
Committee who have come here tonight to participate in this 1-hour
Special Order, Mr. Speaker. And for those who may be viewing the
proceedings, Mr. Speaker, as we all know here, the Republican Study
Committee is the conservative caucus in the House of Representatives,
over 100 strong, promoting the values of faith and family and free
enterprise and freedom that we consider to be the cornerstones of this
great experiment in democracy and liberty that we call America.
And, Mr. Speaker, we always invite the American people to dialogue
with us at the Republican Study Committee and our Web site at
www.house.gov/Hensarling/rsc.
I really didn't know I would be coming here tonight, and so I have no
prepared text whatsoever. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a
week. I had a tele-town-hall meeting and got to speak to literally
thousands of people from the Fifth Congressional District last evening.
It started off talking about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and I
approached that discussion with my constituents not as a Member of
Congress, but as a father.
I am privileged to be the father of a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-
year-old son. And I can only imagine the pain that the families must be
going through. And as I see all the reports on television of the
promising lives that have been snuffed out in this evil, cruel act, I
know that now is a time for comforting those who lost loved ones, it is
a time to pray, it is a time to learn.
But as the Nation reflects on those 30-some-odd lives that are lost,
maybe today is the day to reflect upon the millions of lives that are
lost in America through abortion. And I am not naive; I know this is
one of the most contentious issues debated in our society. But what
right is more fundamental than the right to life?
I wish I knew how to talk to those who somehow didn't see life the
way that we do or value life the way that we do. In my heart, in my
head, I can come to no other conclusion but that life begins at
conception, that life is a gift of our Creator, who endows us with this
inalienable right to life. I don't understand how my countrymen come to
other conclusions. I don't hate them, I don't disparage them, I don't
yell at them, but I don't understand how they can come to different
conclusions. It is something that I take as a
[[Page H3554]]
matter of faith. And if I didn't take it as a matter of faith, I don't
know how any parent could ever look at that sonogram, that modern
technology we have and see their tiny little baby just weeks old with
their head and their arms and their fingers and their feet sometimes
moving around in their mother's tummy. How can you conclude anything
else but that this is human life? I don't understand that.
And so I really come here to celebrate a great victory in the Supreme
Court today that affirms what was already said by an overwhelming vote
in the United States Congress, that this terribly abhorrent act known
as partial-birth abortion, that Congress has the right to outlaw that.
And, Mr. Speaker, we could go into all the gruesome details about how
this child is just seconds away from getting their first breath of life
and how, instead, the instrument of death is plunged into them. I don't
think we need to go into that graphic detail.
But regardless of how you feel on the pro-life debate or the pro-
abortion debate, how anybody could conclude that a child that is just
moments away from taking their first breath should have that life
snuffed out in the land of the free is beyond me.
And so I am happy to come here with my other colleagues from the
Republican Study Committee. And again, I come here with great
trepidation. Anytime I go to the floor with my dear colleague from
Arizona, I serve with many great individuals in this body, Mr. Speaker,
but I cannot think of one who has a purer heart than the gentleman from
Arizona. And so again, my own voice is quite meager to his.
But as I think about my own 5-year-old daughter, Claire, and my own
3-year-old son, Travis, and I remember getting the telephone call from
my wife to let me know that they were there, that life existed in her
that we created, and to think that somehow in this land of the free,
where our Creator has given us this gift of life, that those precious
lives could have ever, ever come to an end in this gruesome procedure
known as partial-birth abortion is just so abhorrent, my mind can't
even go there.
And so I celebrate tonight with millions across America. And I
certainly celebrate with all the members of the conservative caucus in
Congress, the Republican Study Committee, that as many setbacks as we
have in America, as we read about great tragedies, today something
great happened in America, and the right to life was affirmed.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much.
You know, Mr. Speaker, sometimes the reason that we elect to the
chairmanship of the RSC someone like Jeb Hensarling is because we can
easily see from the inside and out what people in America can see on
the outside, that Jeb Hensarling is a man of great humility, with great
competence and just a quiet sincerity that gives us all tremendous
confidence in him.
With that, I would like to yield to Congressman Sali, one of our
freshman Members and a great statesman.
Mr. SALI. Thank you, Congressman Franks.
First of all, I would like to start off by saying how proud I am to
be a new member of the Republican Study Committee and to be a part of
that group that is about the business of changing the way that Congress
does its business, the way that the law will affect the people of this
country. I think that we are set to do good work in that group of 100-
plus people, and I am very proud to be a part of that group.
Mr. Speaker, tonight is a night of celebration. The Supreme Court has
this day extended legal protection, a modicum of legal protection, to
thousands of preborn babies.
Many of my colleagues have given moving speeches about this victory
for the little ones, and I am so pleased to add my voice to theirs.
From my esteemed former colleague, Henry Hyde, to the tireless
gentleman from New Jersey, Chris Smith, and countless thousands of
Americans whose names will never really be known, to President George
W. Bush, people of conscience and conviction have worked for years to
end one of the most gruesome practices imaginable; and today, the
Nation's highest court has vindicated the law this House passed
repeatedly and that the President finally signed into law in 2003.
Mr. Speaker, if we, as a culture, cannot defend the right to life,
all of our other rights really become meaningless. So today's Supreme
Court ruling is a great victory not just for preborn children, but just
as importantly, for our culture.
For 16 years in the Idaho legislature, I worked on protecting the
most vulnerable among us, the unborn. That the highest court in our
country would today extend this minimal protection to thousands of
little ones, infants almost ready to be delivered, is very satisfying.
With a great majority of Idahoans and of American people in general, I
am gratified by this affirmation of our most basic right, the right to
life. And yet I would temper my joy with a note of sadness.
We have outlawed a single barbaric practice, but other types of
abortions, an estimated 1.3 million per year, continue with full
protection of the law. The fact that these abortions are performed
through less startling, cruel and brutal procedures than partial-birth
methods makes them no more morally acceptable. The impact is
undeniable. Forty-five million Americans are dead from abortion. That
is a full one-third of a whole generation, and we are well into one-
third of now another generation, all lost to abortion.
The challenge to end unrestricted access to abortion on demand will
not end until every life, however small, is protected, until every
person at whatever stage of life gains the protection of the law, until
the Constitution of our beloved country is respected fully and,
consequently, absurd notions like the idea that abortion is a protected
right are jettisoned from our Federal law.
Mr. Speaker, 9 years ago, in the Idaho legislature we passed a ban on
partial-birth abortion. Because of activism in our courts, that bill
was almost immediately enjoined. It didn't protect a single unborn
child in the State of Idaho. I remember in my debate on that bill I
questioned what could be going through the mind of a doctor who
partially delivers that baby, feels that life moving in his hands and
feels that little baby jerk as he takes his life.
Mr. Speaker, I question what must be going through his mind. And I
say, if we cannot end this barbaric practice, God help us, God help
this country. And today, Mr. Speaker, that prayer was answered, that
request for God's help was answered today.
I close with this: Some of our friends across the aisle make a great
effort of obfuscating the true issue of what we are dealing with by
calling preborn children fetuses. That is fine with me, as long as we
all understand that the term ``fetus'' is simply Latin for ``the young
yet in the womb.''
Mr. Speaker, today was a great day for every fetus, for every young
boy and girl still in the womb. May God be praised and may He be
pleased so that His blessing is poured out upon our land.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman very much. And now I am
very pleased to be able to recognize the gentleman, Gresham Barrett
from South Carolina.
Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I tell you, I had a wonderful speech prepared tonight, Mr. Speaker.
It had a lot of facts and figures and a lot of things that a lot of
people may not know, but I just want to comment and share tonight.
I will tell you, I was talking to Jeb Hensarling earlier, who spoke a
little bit earlier, Mr. Speaker, a dear friend of mine, and we were
talking about what a smile we had on our faces today.
{time} 2045
A celebration of life. Something that we have been waiting for, for a
long time, and I am just ecstatic. I look to my left over here and see
the colleagues that are going to be speaking, and every one of them has
got a smile on their face, and it is just exciting. It is a tremendous
day; it is a tremendous moment for our country.
And I come here tonight for three reasons, three simple reasons: The
first one is Madison Finley Barrett, my oldest daughter. The second one
is James Edward Barrett; we call him Jeb, Cowboy, my middle son. And
the third is Charles Ross Barrett, my baby. I think about them every
day. I think about watching my wife give birth. I think
[[Page H3555]]
about how precious they are. I know it was a tremendous moment for me
both physically and spiritually, and I don't think any person can
witness something like that and not know that there is a God in heaven.
But I think about, Mr. Speaker, my children and my family, and I
celebrate for them today. I celebrate for all the families across this
Nation and the lives that we will save. I think about their first
steps. I think about their first falls. I think about the first time
they drove a car. I think about the excitement and the joy I feel and
the satisfaction that I have because they are so precious. And out
there tonight, Mr. Speaker, there are Madisons and Cowboys and Pally
Pals that are being born. Each one of them special, each one of them a
gift from God, each one of them with the ability to change the world.
It is a first step. It is a great step. I am just proud to be here to
celebrate, to celebrate life, to celebrate freedom, to celebrate this
wonderful thing. What a great country. What a great life. What a
tremendous success.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I certainly thank the gentleman. Sometimes,
Mr. Speaker, a person doesn't know whether it wouldn't be better just
to all go home at this point, because this man has certainly touched my
heart. And he reminds us all that every little baby comes with a
message that God has not yet despaired of mankind. And I thank the
gentleman with all my heart.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to Congressman Todd Akin for such time as he may
consume.
Mr. AKIN. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the protection
of life, and this ruling affirms Congress's role in guarding and
protecting that special gift of life. As Justice Kennedy stated,
Congress determined that the abortion methods it prescribed had a
disturbing similarity to the killing of a newborn infant.
In the past 30 years or so, our Nation has seen an appalling rise in
the disrespect for the dignity of human life. And when a culture of
life is not respected, a culture of death rises to fill the void. This
culture of death has been eating away at our Nation's character, at
America's soul. It seems that day after day we are inundated with new
stories of senseless acts of violence and death carried out on innocent
victims. It would be easy to try to turn and look away; it would be
easy to pretend that that crisis does not exist, but it would not be
right. Who is it who will defend the innocent that is led off to
slaughter? Who will stand for the right to life in America?
I am reminded of William Wilberforce, the recent movie about his
life's efforts to end the practice of slavery. The moving movie
``Amazing Grace'' demonstrates the value of this cause and the tireless
efforts that Wilberforce went through year after year, constant
criticism and rejection, until he collected the votes to finally send
slavery in the British empire to the dust bin of history. We as Members
of Congress could learn from his great example. Will we show our own
Nation the same love and respect for the dignity of human beings?
If there is one thing we should take away from this 5-4 decision, it
is this, that when human life is threatened by such a gruesome
procedure as partial birth abortion, all true sons and daughters of
liberty, all true patriots, all true people who respect those rights
that have been passed on to us by our Forefathers will take a stand for
that precious, precious idea that God gives us life. And it is my
sincere hope at this time that we can continue to build on this
important victory and to create a new culture of life in our land.
There was a time years ago, many years ago, when America was just a
dark forest almost on the horizon, when a young man in 1630 was aboard
the Lion. He became, as we know Winthrop, Winthrop, the Governor of
Boston, known as the George Washington of the Puritans. And as he was
coming along the coast of Maine in the Lion and the wind was blowing
across the pine forests out to sea and he smelled the smell of the pine
and the balsam on the breeze and he put pen to paper and he started
writing, ``A Model of Christian Charity.'' And in there, he held a
vision for America that America could be as a shining city on a hill, a
light to people all over the world. And today, Mr. Speaker, that vision
of a shining city seems just a little bit closer and a little bit less
dim and a little closer to a reality that one day, one day that shining
city on a hill, a vision of hope for all people of the world, a vision
of a city where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are truly
enshrined in every law and precept of this great Nation; may that
vision come to reality even within our own days. Thank you. God bless
you all.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Akin has been committed for his entire life to these
kinds of causes, which brought him to this place. And so many of us are
thankful for his example for the way he has mentored so many of us in
this place.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) for such
time as he may consume.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, today the Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which was passed in the House, in the Senate,
signed by the President and became Public Law No. 108-105 in November
of 2003.
As others have stated this evening, this is a victory for the health
of women across this country. It is a victory for unborn children. It
is a victory for life, and, as I have said, people have indicated it is
a victory for America.
I just want to take a minute to thank all the pro-life volunteers
across this country who are really the reason we have this celebration
that we have today. Those of us in public life, those of us charged
with forming public policy, we get approached just about every day by
lobbyists and interest groups. And they want to talk to us. They want
to influence legislation. They want to be a part of this process where
the laws and the taxpayer dollars are spent. And they want to do all
those things because they have a financial interest at stake. But the
people who articulate that life is sacred, the people who advocate for
protecting the sanctity of human life, they have nothing to gain
financially by talking to us. They have nothing to gain financially by
being involved in this movement. They simply do it because it is the
right thing to do. They understand life is precious; life is sacred.
They understand. That is why they work in our crisis pregnancy centers.
That is why they help unwed mothers, because they understand how
precious life is. And they understand, and others have talked about
this. They understand what the Founders understood, that life is
precious. And, as they said in the Declaration of Independence, that we
hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,
endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I think it is
interesting to note the order that the Founders placed the rights they
chose to mention, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Can you
pursue happiness, can you go after your goals and dreams if you first
don't have freedom and liberty? And do you ever have true freedom and
true liberty if government doesn't protect your most fundamental right,
your right to live?
And that is what we celebrate today. Again, it is a testimony to the
hard work of millions of pro-life people across this country. So I want
to commend you and again say what a great day for America.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman from Ohio. And I hope
the gentleman stays in public life and leadership for as long as he can
stand up.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) for
such time as he may consume.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
thank him for putting together this special order hour this evening.
Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of this body now for 4\1/2\ years,
this being my third term. And as I stand here tonight in front of my
colleagues, I want to say emphatically that this is my finest hour as a
Member of this great body, this United States House of Representatives
that I have been a part of with 434 of my colleagues.
We have disappointments. We have good days, we have bad days. But
this is a good day, and this is a good day. And this is a day that the
Lord has made. And that is why it is a good day.
[[Page H3556]]
I sincerely believe, Mr. Speaker, that God's hand is in everything we
do, every deliberation, every bill, everything that seems so important
to us, every victory, every defeat. Indeed, I even think maybe God's
hand was in the Republican majority, my party, losing that opportunity
possibly as a wake-up call. But I want to thank God this evening for
Justice Kennedy and Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, Justice Alito and
Chief Justice Roberts.
It has taken a long time, Mr. Speaker. Back in 1992, when this
abhorrent procedure was first described, and then finally I think it
was in early 1995 maybe when the Member of this body from Florida,
Representative Kennedy, first introduced this bill to ban this
procedure. And that bill to ban this abortion procedure, not to ban
abortion, but to ban this type of abortion, which really is not an
abortion; it is literally infanticide. It is killing of an infant. And
it passed this body, and it passed this other body, only to be vetoed
twice by the then President of the United States.
Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, today I thank God for Representative
Steve Chabot from Ohio, who brought this bill once again to this body
in 2003, my first year, my freshman year. And I was so proud to vote
for Representative Chabot's bill. And I thank God for former Senator
Rick Santorum from the great State of Pennsylvania. Wherever he is
tonight, I want to say, Rick, you lost your race, but you didn't lose
the battle. And we thank God for your efforts then, because it has come
to fruition now.
Mr. Speaker, I want to maybe make sure that my colleagues remember as
they listen to my remarks tonight that I spent 26 years practicing
obstetrics and gynecology. And in that great specialty, which I am so
proud to be a part of that group, the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists, I had an opportunity to deliver 5,200 babies by my
estimate over a 26-year period of time. They weren't all perfect. Some
were born with birth defects. Some had spina bifida. And I have great
friends in my hometown of Marietta, Georgia, in Cobb County, great,
great parents like Brad and Kim Barfield, who have a beautiful little
girl today who is suffering from spina bifida. They knew at 20 weeks
that their little girl had that condition, but they didn't elect to
terminate that pregnancy by a partial-birth abortion. And many others
know ahead of time that they are going to have a child with Down's
Syndrome, but they know that that is a gift from God that makes their
lives better and the lives of their other children, the siblings. And I
thank God for them.
Mr. Speaker, I want my colleagues to understand how this procedure of
partial-birth abortion came about, because I remember. I remember when
I was a resident in this specialty at the Medical College of Georgia
back in 1974, 1975, shortly after Roe v. Wade was passed within a year.
{time} 2100
There was a physician at a major medical center in the northeast, I
do not remember the hospital, I do not remember the doctor's name, but
it was at a teaching center. Back then, if a woman did not have an
abortion at 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy, the first trimester, and in
fact, 90 percent of the million annual abortions that are performed in
this country are done in the first trimester by a fairly simple
procedure called a D&C, but if the pregnancy went beyond and it got to
the second trimester and approaching the third trimester, and we are
talking now about a 22, 24-week pregnancy when a baby weighs two-and-a-
half pounds, the way the abortion procedure was done then back in 1975,
and this was perfectly legal under Roe v. Wade, all it required is a
licensed physician performed the procedure in a licensed medical
facility with the consent of two other physicians.
This is the way the procedure was done. A strong salt, we say saline
in the medical parlance, but a salt solution was injected into the
mother's womb through the abdomen, and that salt solution, most of the
time, killed the baby, killed this baby at 24, 26 weeks, maybe even 3
pounds, certainly capable of not only a live birth but a great life
without disability. But as long as the baby was killed, and then the
mother was put into labor and delivered a dead baby, that was perfectly
legal.
Unfortunately for this doctor back in 1975, he injected the saline
and it did not kill the baby. So the next day he injected saline again,
and it still did not kill the baby. So he took the mother to the
operating room and performed an operation that he called a hysterotomy,
that is, an opening of the uterus which really is an early, very early
cesarean section. But instead of delivering that live baby, he reached
his hand inside the incision and grabbed the umbilical cord and held it
until that baby's heart stopped beating.
There just happened to be a nurse in attendance in that operating
room that said this esteemed doctor killed that baby, and there was a
court decision, a lot of brouhaha, and in the final analysis, the
doctor was acquitted.
But from that day forward, that is when partial birth abortions, Mr.
Speaker, started because nobody wanted to be in a situation, no doctor,
of trying to abort a baby and inadvertently, deliberately and knowing
then that they could not kill the baby because it was outside the
mother's womb.
So they devised this procedure of partially delivering the baby. If
the baby is head first, put the patient into labor, dilate the cervix,
and when that head comes out, crush the skull, or if it is a breach
presentation, dilate the cervix, put the patient in labor, and when the
baby is delivered to the naval, then go up inside and crush the skull
and then deliver and then the baby is dead, and it is perfectly legal.
That is what this is all about, and we are talking about maybe 2,000,
2,500 procedures a year out of the million legal abortions that are
performed, mostly in the first trimester.
Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable when I read quotes, and this happens
to be a quote from a member of the other body and certainly I would not
name names here tonight but this is a quote: As a result of today's
ruling, the health of women who have dangerous pregnancies is now in
deep jeopardy. Women who are in need of this banned procedure will be
denied it, even if they risk losing their fertility, becoming paralyzed
or sustaining organ damage.
Mr. Speaker, the risk of any of the those things is greater, much
greater if they have this procedure done. Our judiciary committee in
this House and in the other body have had multiple hearings from
physicians across this country that say this procedure does not need to
be done to protect the health of the mother, unless you call the health
of the mother anxiety over not wanting that baby. There is still an
exception that this abhorrent procedure could be done to protect the
life of the mother.
Mr. Speaker, I did not mean to take quite this much time, and I know
my colleague needs time to conclude, and I thank God for him, too. I
thank God for each and every Member that has spoken here tonight, and I
will remember them for the rest of my life. I will remember each one of
these Members who have spoken and applauded and, yes, smiled on this
great day because to me and to them this transcends any other
disappointments and frustrations and aggravations that we may have had
on both sides of the aisle in maybe not getting our way on a particular
piece of legislation here and there. Nothing is more important than
this.
I want to say as I conclude, I want to say to my 9-year old
identical, twin granddaughters, Allie and Hannah, who were born at 26
weeks, each weighing 1 pound 12 ounces, thank God for your mom and dad,
my daughter and son-in-law, Gannon and Hank Manning, that they did not
make a decision that they did not want you, even though you were so
fragile. God reached down and lifted you up and now you are the
beautiful love of our lives, your grandparents, Mommy and Grand Doc,
and so proud as you make progress now in the second grade.
I say to my grandson Hank and my brand new grandson Sabine, just 2
weeks old, your brothers, and to my two other grandchildren, of Phyllis
and Jerry Collins, little Grey, two-and-a-half years old; and little
Marion, 8 months old, Grand Doc is proud of you, and I know that you
are proud of Grand Doc. You are proud that he stood here tonight in
defense of the sanctity of life, and I know that God's hand is in all
of that.
I just say, as I conclude, I am blessed. We are all blessed. We are
all blessed to
[[Page H3557]]
have this opportunity in a historic moment. No, it does not ban
abortion, and most of us hope eventually that there will be no need for
that and that the sanctity of life, at the earliest and at the last
moments, will be honored and respected.
Again, I just want to thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).
I am proud to be his classmate. I am proud to be a colleague, and I
thank him for giving me the opportunity to talk to my colleagues
tonight.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank my precious friend Phil
Gingrey from Georgia. It is a wonderful thing to have a man here that
has the expertise of a doctor and an obstetrician, to be able to speak
to an issue like this, and yet one who has maintained his commitment
always to being a help to someone, that would always protect human life
rather than to ever try to take it from someone. I just think he is a
credit to his profession and certainly a credit to this body.
Mr. Speaker, I suppose that tonight I would just kind of recap here
for a moment. A lot of people have mentioned their family members, and
I certainly love every one of mine, but I will bring to mind and to
voice one special little boy by the name of Landon Trent Franks. Now,
the fact that his name is the same as mine is strictly a coincidence,
but I am thankful that his daddy and his mother loved him enough to
give him a chance at life, and I think at some point, probably the time
he is 21, he will be President of the United States which is a great
encouragement to me as well.
I understand that we are all proud of our families, but whether a
child reaches the great heights in this life or whether they just have
a chance to breathe in the breath of freedom and to be able to walk on
the free soil of the United States of America or just to have a
chance to pursue this thing called happiness in life, it is incumbent
upon all of us to recognize that we are all mortal and that this gift
of life is the profoundest kind of miracle and that America itself was
founded on the basic premise that every life was important, that it was
a gift of God, and that each one of us should work to try to protect
life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of our fellow
human beings.
The tragedy of Roe v. Wade when it came along, it just kind of took
us all by surprise, because you see, this was not something that the
country voted on. This was not something that the United States people
as a whole decided to bring about themselves.
This was something that erudite, and might I say, Mr. Speaker, very
arrogant and unjust members of the United States Supreme Court took
upon themselves to arrogate this thing, to take away the constitutional
rights of the unborn child. It is the not the first time that things
like that have happened.
Back in 1857, in the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court said that
the black man was not a person under the Constitution, and it took a
civil war to reverse that tragedy. Today, we all look back on that and
we say how could they have ever done that, and yet we have killed 50
million of our own children.
In the rise of the Nazi Holocaust, we saw the German high tribunal
say that the Jews were subhuman and not persons under the German
Constitution, and it precipitated a great tragedy.
Then in 1973 we saw the Supreme Court take away the right to live of
the unborn child.
In all three cases, Mr. Speaker, not only was there a great human
tragedy that followed, but there was a greater one that followed as a
result. The civil war took more lives than any war in our history. The
world war that changed the Nazi Holocaust took 50 million lives
worldwide and it saw atomic bombs fall on cities across the world.
I have to say to you that I do not know where America will finally
end up here. I do not know what the future holds, but I am so
encouraged today that we have made a turn and that we have come to
ourselves to some degree and said, you know, there is a time when we
can protect these little babies in the womb, and I think if we come to
that conclusion, that something even greater will happen. We will begin
to understand that these little miracles of life in the womb are the
beginning of us all and that there is a way that America can come up
with a better solution than abortion on demand, that we are bigger than
that as a people.
I am convinced that the day will come some day, Mr. Speaker, when the
warm sunlight of life will break through the clouds and once again
shine on the face of unborn children in America. When that day comes it
will be people like Phil Gingrey, it will be people like Chris Smith,
it will be people like Bill Sali, it will be people like Gresham
Barrett, it will be people like Jim Jordan, people like Todd Akin,
people like Jeb Hensarling, people like Steve Chabot, people like
George W. Bush the history will be most aware of. They will remember
that these were individuals that, through all the storm, held tightly
to the hand of a little baby until the storm was gone.
Mr. Speaker, if I am wrong about that, if somehow America never finds
its way back home on this issue, I am still convinced of one thing more
than any other, and that is, that the Lord of the universe hears the
cries of absolutely every one of his children, no matter who or where
they are. And if time turns every star in heaven to ashes, I know in my
soul that eternal moment of His deliverance will come to each of them.
And I hope that we do the part He has given us to that end.
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