[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7791-S7792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. JOHANNS (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
        Thune, Mr. Burr, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Isakson, Mr. 
        Enzi, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Wicker, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
        Roberts, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, Mr. Graham, Mr. Vitter, and Mr. 
        Kyl):
  S. 14. 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. JOHANNS. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an issue that I 
believe does cross the political divide; and that issue is, protecting 
children from needless pain. Forty years ago, when Roe v. Wade became 
the law of the land, it was believed that babies simply did not feel 
pain. At that time, the medical community thought a baby's nervous 
system was not yet developed enough to have a sense of pain, so 
surgeries were literally performed with no anesthesia. Parents were 
told not to worry if it appeared their child was in pain.
  We found out the medical community was wrong.
  Twenty-five years ago, a doctor at Oxford University proved that 
newborn babies do, in fact, feel pain. His groundbreaking research was 
inspired by his own recognition of the signs of pain.
  Dr. Anand noticed preterm babies returning from operations with weak 
pulses, with rapid heart rates, and other signs of stress that would 
typically be associated with the feeling of pain.
  As a result, he studied two groups of babies. One went through 
surgery without anesthesia, as was the practice at that time. A second 
group was given anesthesia before the surgery took place.
  The results were remarkable. Most of the babies who were given pain 
medicine sailed through the procedures while the babies who were given 
no pain medicine suffered significant stress. This study opened the 
eyes of the medical community, shifting both medical opinion and common 
practice.
  Today, pain relief for infants is now the standard of care. If my 
child needed surgery today, and a doctor told us it would be done 
without anesthesia, without pain medicine for the baby, we would walk 
straight out of the door; and any parent would.
  Performing surgery on an infant without pain medicine is unimaginable 
today, despite having been common practice, the accepted standard of 
care 40 years ago. Medical research shattered a commonly held belief, 
and it changed medicine forever.
  I stand before you today in recognition that medical research has 
again advanced. Again, it should shatter a misguided assumption. You 
see, doctors now perform surgery on unborn babies. They can go into the 
womb and save a baby as young as 20 weeks old.
  This has allowed researchers to study reactions to pain by these 
unborn babies. The eye-opening results simply cannot be denied. Much 
like the original groundbreaking study of newborns,

[[Page S7792]]

the research involving unborn babies presented evidence that they feel 
pain.
  When pain medicine was administered during surgery involving unborn 
children, their blood flow, their heart rate remained normal. But 
without pain medicine, blood flow and heart rate were affected, as 
unborn babies endured the pain.
  The medical evidence is so compelling it alone should inspire us to 
act. But we do not have to rely upon a doctor's research. All of my 
colleagues have surely seen with their own eyes the breathtaking images 
from ultrasounds. Perhaps it was the picture of a child or a grandchild 
that showed a face and fingers and toes. Some might have been lucky 
enough to be in the room for a checkup and actually listened to that 
heartbeat.
  There is no denying that those fingers and toes--that face, that 
heartbeat--is about a baby, a tiny, little miracle that can feel pain. 
Pretending there is some magical line that is crossed at the moment of 
birth that allows a baby to feel pain is literally absurd. There is no 
such line. There is no difference in the pain a baby begins feeling 
about halfway through pregnancy and the pain a newborn baby feels.
  Just as the medical community now admits it was wrong to assert that 
newborns feel no pain, we know it is wrong to say unborn children feel 
no pain. But while medical science has moved forward and taken this 
step, our laws and our practices still rely on decades-old information 
and mistaken beliefs.
  So it is time for us to acknowledge in law and in practice the 
realities revealed by these advancements in medical science. We must be 
willing to change our mindset based upon this evidence, and I would 
suggest we have an obligation to do so.
  Mothers have a right to know that their unborn babies feel pain. 
Respected doctors are on record saying that abortions in the second and 
third trimester likely cause unborn babies ``intense pain.'' How can we 
claim to be compassionate, yet look the other way in denial of this 
pain? I would suggest we cannot. We can see these precious faces. We 
can hear their hearts beat.
  That is why the legislation I am introducing today is so critically 
important. The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act would merely require 
those who perform abortions 20 weeks into a pregnancy or later to 
inform the mother that her unborn child feels pain. And the mother may 
request anesthesia for that child to lessen the pain if she does not 
choose life.
  Women should not be kept in the dark. They have the right to know 
what their unborn child will feel during an abortion. And those who 
provide abortions should not dismiss the reality of the anguish. The 
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act says: At the very least, let's provide 
mothers with the complete medical and scientific research we have at 
our disposal today. Let's simply provide the truth before they make a 
life-changing decision. We cannot in good conscience know of this 
medical reality and fail to share it with mothers who are contemplating 
the most difficult and consequential decision of their entire lives.
  Our country is awakening to the reality of the pain felt by unborn 
children but slowly, just as we were slow to accept that newborn 
babies, yes, in fact, do feel pain so many years ago. Thankfully, our 
States are leading the way when Congress has failed to act. Arkansas, 
Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah have passed similar 
legislation. Several other States include information about the pain an 
unborn child experiences in their counseling materials. In fact, in my 
home State of Nebraska, we became the first State to ban abortions 
after 20 weeks on the basis that an unborn child can, in fact, feel 
pain.
  Unborn children cannot tell us what they feel, but medical research 
cries out on their behalf. They deserve the same human compassion we 
show newborns, 2-year-olds, and children of every age. They all feel 
pain.
  So I encourage my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this 
legislation. Thus far, 18 Senators have signed on, and I hope more will 
follow. I would suggest that this legislation has little to do with 
whether you call yourself pro-life or pro-choice. It is about basic 
human decency and concern for human suffering. I hope my colleagues 
will review the medical research, look to their conscience, and follow 
what is right. I hope they join me in cosponsoring this legislation.
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