[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H338-H344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ACCEPTABLE BIGOTRY: PREJUDICE AGAINST THE CHILD IN THE WOMB
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct privilege to
yield to Martha Roby, a new Member who was just elected. And she's an
outstanding pro-life woman, a Member of Congress. And we're just so
pleased to have her in the caucus.
Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago I took part in a reading of the
U.S. Constitution in this Chamber. It was a fitting tribute to the
great social contract between the American people and our government.
The Constitution is an exceptional document, and we have all taken an
oath to defend it, and defend it we must. Too often, our Constitution
is under attack by the liberal activist movement that seeks to achieve
through the courts that which they cannot achieve at the ballot box.
On the front line are the unelected judges that disregard the words
and meaning of the Constitution in favor of their own political and
social views. They decide cases not on the law and the facts but on the
outcome that they alone believe to be the best policy. Roe v. Wade is
an example of this sort of judicial activism at its worst. Together
with other cases, the Roe court created a fundamental right to abortion
even though a simple reading of the Constitution reveals no such right.
As a result, unimaginable harm has occurred.
In the short time that I have talked tonight, another baby has been
aborted. That equals one abortion every 2 minutes, 3,300 abortions a
day, or 1.2 million abortions a year.
Mr. Speaker, I am unapologetically pro-life. I believe that the
miracle of human life begins at conception. I believe that we are
fearfully and wonderfully made, ``knit together'' by God in our
mother's womb. I believe that every American is entitled to basic human
rights. And I believe that I have an obligation to do everything I can
to fight for the unborn, to prevent taxpayer money from funding
abortions, and to protect our democratic system from the encroachment
of an all-powerful judiciary.
Let us use this 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade as an occasion to
reaffirm our beliefs and redirect ourselves to that cause.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I do thank the gentlelady for her very
powerful and eloquent statement in defense of the innocent unborn
child.
Mr. Speaker, earlier today, an abortionist in Philadelphia, Dr.
Kermit Gosnell, was arrested and charged in the death of a mother and
seven babies who were born alive but then killed by severing their
spinal cords with a pair of scissors.
{time} 2010
According to the CBS TV affiliate in Philadelphia, the district
attorney said that in 1 year alone, Dr. Gosnell made approximately $1.8
million performing abortions.
The abortion industry, Mr. Speaker, is a multibillion dollar
business. Planned Parenthood boasts that in 2008 alone, their
abortionists killed over 324,000 babies, while raking in approximately
$1 billion in fees and local, State, and Federal Government subsidies.
The ugly truth is that abortionists often get filthy rich not by
healing or nurturing or curing, but by dismembering and decapitating
the fragile bodies of unborn children, by starving the child in the
womb with lethal agents like RU486 or by other means of chemical
poisoning. The ugly truth is that women are victimized by abortion,
wounded and hurt physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Women
deserve better than abortion.
The only thing the multibillion dollar abortion industry has produced
in America and worldwide is victims, wounded women and over 52 million
dead babies in the United States alone since 1973, more than six times
the entire population of my home State of New Jersey. The multibillion
dollar abortion industry systematically dehumanizes the weakest and
most vulnerable among us with catchy slogans, slick advertising, clever
marketing, and very aggressive lobbying, particularly here.
They have made the unacceptable--to be prejudiced and bigoted against
a child in the womb--acceptable to some. This acceptable bigotry has
been promoted for decades, despite breathtaking advances in fetal
medicine, including microsurgery, underscoring the fact that an unborn
child is a patient in need of care, diagnosis and care, just like
anyone else, and despite the amazing window to the womb, ultrasound
imaging.
In 1976, Dr. Willard Cates and David Grimes, then with the Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta, presented a paper to a Planned
Parenthood meeting entitled, and I quote this directly, ``Abortion as a
Treatment for Unintended Pregnancy: The Number Two Sexually Transmitted
Disease.'' These two abortion doctors reduced the child in the womb to
a disease, to a parasite, to something that had to be vanquished. As
far as I know, no one at Planned Parenthood objected to this
dehumanizing language and obvious bigotry towards children.
Mr. Speaker, the evidence of significant harm to women who abort
increases each and every year. Abortion hurts women's health and puts
future children subsequently born to women who abort at significant
risk. At least 102 studies show significant psychological harm, major
depression, and elevated suicide risk in women who abort. The Times of
London reported that senior psychiatrists ``say that new evidence has
uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women
with no previous history of psychological problems.'' They found that
``women who have had abortions have twice the level of psychological
problems and three times the level of depression as women who have
given birth or who have never been pregnant.''
In 2006, a comprehensive New Zealand study found that almost 80
percent of the 15- to 18-year-olds who had abortions displayed symptoms
of major depression as compared to 31 percent of their peers. The study
also found that 27 percent of the 21- to 25-year-olds who had abortions
had suicidal idealizations compared to 8 percent of those who did not
have an abortion.
Abortion isn't safe for subsequent children born to women who have
had an abortion. And this fact is so underappreciated in the United
States, and really around the world. At least 113 studies show a
significant association between abortion and subsequent premature
births. One study by researchers Shah and Zoe showed a 36 percent
increased risk for preterm births after one abortion, and a staggering
93 percent increased risk after two. Same goes for low birth weight,
similar percentages.
So what does this mean for the children? Preterm birth is the leading
cause of infant mortality in the industrialized world after congenital
anomalies. Preterm infants have a greater risk of suffering chronic
lung disease, sensory deficits, cerebral palsy, cognitive impairments,
and behavioral problems. Low birth weight is similarly associated with
neonatal mortality and morbidity. Abortion causes great harm to
children, to mothers.
Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who we
honored just this past Monday, has joined the growing coalition of
women who deeply regret their abortions, and are, as they call
themselves, Silent No More. Out of deep personal pain and compassion
for others, Dr. King, who has had two abortions herself, and the other
women of
[[Page H339]]
Silent No More challenge us to respect, protect, and tangibly love both
the mother and the child. The women of Silent No More give post-
abortive women a safe place to grieve and a road map to reconciliation.
This week, with the full and unequivocal support of Speaker Boehner
and Majority Leader Cantor, more than 125 Members and I will introduce
the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, a government-wide prohibition
on taxpayer subsidization for abortion and conscience protections with
durable remedies.
Abortion is not health care. We know that. And polls show that
taxpayers strongly oppose publicly funded abortion, 67 percent,
according to a recent university poll. Our new bill is designed to
permanently end any U.S. Government financial support for abortion,
whether it be direct funding, or by tax credits, or by any other
subsidy.
Regarding conscience rights, last year Cathy DeCarlo, a nurse at
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, was compelled, despite her strong
moral and religious objections, to assist in a grisly D&E abortion,
which has been described by the U.S. Supreme Court as a procedure where
the doctors use forceps to literally tear apart the unborn child. The
child often feels pain. It's done later in pregnancy. D&E is a gruesome
act of child abuse.
Ms. DeCarlo sued, asserting her right to conscience had been violated
under existing Federal law, namely, the Church amendment. Her case was
dismissed, however, due to the lack of prescribed remedies. The No
Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act protects conscience rights of
individuals and institutions, entities as we call them, by empowering
the courts with the authority to prevent and redress actual or
threatened violations of conscience.
Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to yield to my good friend and colleague
Doug Lamborn, who has been a great defender of life.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of my friend
and colleague, Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey. He is such a
leader in this vital area of life. All who are pro-life in Congress
look up to him.
Mr. Speaker, my heart breaks when I think about the children who are
now a part of a missing generation, a generation whose contributions to
society we will never fully know, a generation whose lives could have
inspired their families, Nation, and world had they been allowed to
live. Our society now discriminates against these tiny human beings,
who should receive the same protections as other persons.
Not only does abortion strip the world of human lives; it also
dramatically affects the lives of mothers, leaving them to deal with
the emotional aftermath of this brutal procedure. I commend the work of
pregnancy care centers across the country that provide needed services
to both mothers and their children.
Today I mourn the over 50 million American lives cut short by
abortion since Roe v. Wade and pray that God continues to heal those
touched by this tragic practice. I will remain steadfast in the fight
for the rights and dignity of the unborn. Every human deserves the
opportunity to live, and I will always fight to guard the rights of the
unborn. I am dedicated to protecting the sanctity of human life, from
the unborn to the elderly.
Like a majority in the House today, I made good on a campaign promise
and voted to repeal the job-destroying health care law known as
ObamaCare. There were many reasons for my vote to repeal, but one of my
main reasons was that the bill did not adequately protect life. You
will recall President Obama signed a well-intended, but ineffective,
executive order stating that no Federal tax dollars could be used for
abortions under ObamaCare. We need that commitment written into law.
That is what I will fight for.
Tomorrow, the House will vote on a resolution directing the
appropriate House committees to start working on legislation to replace
ObamaCare with patient-centered commonsense reforms.
{time} 2020
Like many Americans, I want to see health care reform that, among
other things, includes statutory language prohibiting taxpayer funding
of abortions and provides conscience protections for health care
providers. During my time in Congress, I have sponsored, cosponsored,
or supported many bills related to protecting the unborn, the family
and traditional values.
One such bill I supported last Congress was H.R. 227, the Sanctity of
Human Life Act, which declares that the right to life guaranteed by the
Constitution is vested in each human being and that life begins at
conception. I became an original cosponsor of similar legislation, H.R.
212, which was just introduced.
Additionally, I am a member of the Values Action Team and the Pro-
Life Caucus. Through these groups I work with my pro-life colleagues in
Congress to advance legislation and initiatives that support life and
family.
One day in the future, and I don't know soon or how long it may take,
I believe with all my heart that this country will have a renewal of
respect for life, including for the unborn.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield now to the gentlewoman from Ohio,
Jean Schmidt. I don't think there has been a single battle on the life
issue that she has not been speaking out in front, speaking in defense
of the unborn and their mothers.
Mrs. SCHMIDT. Thank you so much for those kind words from my friend
from New Jersey.
You know, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about abortion, we think of this
as a 40-year-old movement. We think about 1973 and Roe v. Wade, and
that that was the catalyst to move this movement forward. We think
about people like Barbara and Jack Wilke from Cincinnati, Ohio,
pioneers and leaders who actually coined the phrase, right to life.
Mr. Speaker, we forget that this is not a 21st century issue. This is
a centuries-old issue.
You know, it was actually the suffragists, those women over 150 years
ago, who talked about women's rights, the right to vote, the right to
own property, the right to speak, the right to run for public office,
who also talked about the right to life.
To these women, the very concept of feminism demanded that the basic
human rights be extended to everyone without exception, including the
unborn. And feminism meant rejecting the use of force to control or
destroy one another, particularly among the most vulnerable and
defenseless of the population.
So to suffragists, the act of abortion was much more than harm
imposed upon a woman and her child. It was a frontal assault on
womanhood and feminism, and an insult to the philosophical
underpinnings of their cause.
And how do we know this? Well you know, Mr. Speaker, all we have to
do is look at their writings. All we have to do is look at people like
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and ``The Revolution.''
They both wrote extensively about abortion, calling it infanticide and
child murder.
Susan B. Anthony also wrote, ``Guilty? Yes. No matter the motive,
love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering from the unborn
innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits abortion. It will
burden her conscience in life; it will burden her soul in death.''
Victoria Woodhull, the first female candidate for President, stated
similarly that ``Every woman knows that if she were free, she would
never bear an unwished for child, nor think of murdering one before its
birth.''
Sarah Norton, who first challenged Cornell University to admit women,
also pondered whether there would ever come a time when ``the right of
the unborn to be born will not be denied or interfered with.''
And Alice Paul. We all remember Alice Paul, the author of the Equal
Rights Amendment. Mr. Speaker, it may surprise you. She stated abortion
is the ultimate exploitation of women.
You know, I could talk all night about this, but we have women's
history month in March, and I hope that I can be invited back again to
speak more on the history of women and the human rights pro-life
movement, because it's not just about human rights for one individual,
it's about human rights for all individuals, the unborn, the born, and
the elderly.
So I thank my colleague from New Jersey for hosting this forum
tonight. I really appreciate his leadership in the pro-life movement,
and we are going to
[[Page H340]]
continue to forge ahead until everyone in America has the right to
life.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my friend for her statement and for
her leadership.
I yield to Tim Huelskamp, who took the baton from Jerry Moran, who
has gone on to the Senate, and thank him for joining us tonight and
look forward to his comments.
Mr. HUELSKAMP. Thank you, Congressman. I would like to recognize the
longtime efforts of Congressman Chris Smith in defending life. I have
watched from afar for many years, and it's a real treasure for the
opportunity to speak here tonight and join his efforts and, in my
opinion, and in the opinion of many other Americans, one of the
greatest, greatest tragedies in the history of our Nation has been the
direct death and the direct murder of more than 50 million Americans
since 1973. Far too often, too many women, too many families turn to
abortion as the only option when they discover they are unexpectedly
pregnant.
Situations exist that make the thought of being responsible, perhaps
for another life, overwhelming to say the least.
But abortion is not the only option available to these women and to
their families. My wife and I have had the joy and privilege of
adopting four children, and two of those children are from the country
of Haiti and two of the others were already Americans. Incidentally, my
oldest, when she was young, she didn't believe that babies arrived via
stork, they arrived on airplanes, because our second two children were
picked up at the airport.
But that reminds me of another story, a 5-year-old. She said,
``Daddy, can't we tell them to do adoption, not abortion?'' Yes, we
can, and that's the message I would like to make sure we share tonight
because supporting adoption is often the neglected, the unreported side
of the pro-life coin.
If we are going to encourage women and families not to abort their
babies we need to offer alternatives. And all across this country,
there are thousands and thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of men and
women that are adopting children, that are offering their services,
particularly through local crisis pregnancy centers, and offering
opportunities for the children and for women and for their families.
And I know, literally, there are millions of Americans today that are
waiting for a child, that are awaiting a child, and I would even more
strongly encourage other Americans to consider adoption.
Let me speak directly to those that might be considering abortion:
There are alternatives. There are opportunities. There are caring
Americans that would love, would love to participate in adoption and
would love to provide assistance.
I am also a proud cosponsor of No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion. The
leading abortion provider in the country, and these, Mr. Speaker, are
really stark statistics, in the last year available, Planned Parenthood
of America, in 2008, they performed, they committed, they slaughtered
more than 324,000 little girls and little boys across this country,
324,008 abortions. They only participated in 2,405 adoptions; 324,000
abortions, less than 2,500 adoptions. There are other opportunities,
there are other options. Adoption is the option.
I would ask that we consider to defund an industry that is not
concerned with the women, not concerned with the families.
But let's turn our attention towards those across America that have
given their hearts and homes and opened them up to our youngest members
of society.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you so much for your statement and for
your emphasis on adoption, an alternative that is often forgotten, and
it provides such a meaningful way for building a family. Thank you for
that.
I yield to Marlin Stutzman, the distinguished gentleman from Indiana.
Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you and thank you to my colleagues for bringing
this very, very important issue to the House floor this evening. I
appreciated all the other comments that have already been made.
Having the opportunity to serve as the chairman in public policy back
in Indiana, I do remember the time when my wife and I were expecting
our second born. When we were dealing with pro-life legislation in
Indiana, and having the opportunity to go home and to see the
ultrasounds of our second-born son was quite the experience.
{time} 2030
And I know that with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade coming up, this
is an issue that is on a lot of hearts and minds of Americans across
the country. So today I rise as we remember the 38th anniversary of Roe
v. Wade, but more importantly the millions of innocent lives taken
since 1973. In 2008 alone, there were over 1.2 million abortions; that
is 3,315 innocent unborn children per day, 138 per hour and about two
every minute.
While I have no doubt that future generations will place Roe v. Wade
alongside the terrible Dred Scott decision, I know that there is much
unfinished work before us. All of that work begins with a single
inquiry. Mr. Speaker, a simple question forms the cornerstone of a
national debate: When does human life begin? Without that answer, we
are left with empty rhetoric and euphemisms. So I ask: When does human
life begin? This question is not a lofty philosophical endeavor.
Science has already given us the answer. Advances in molecular biology
underscore the undeniable fact that life is present from the moment of
fertilization. That life is fully human and infinitely valuable. Those
who willfully ignore reality ought to remember the admonition of our
second President, John Adams, that facts are stubborn things.
Because a unique human life begins at the moment of fertilization, it
is our solemn duty to defend the unborn, to speak up for the weak, to
continue with firmness in the right. I proudly support H.R. 212, the
Sanctity of Human Life Act, which defines human life accordingly and
affirms that each State has the authority to protect the lives of all
human beings. We take up this charge because we are still dedicated to
the proposition that all men are created equal. All possess the
inalienable right to life.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank you for your very fine statement and
very strong commitment to the sanctity of human life.
I would like to now yield to Ann Marie Buerkle who is both a nurse,
but also got her law degree. So she brings both the law and the
medicine side to this equation. So I yield to her.
Ms. BUERKLE. Thank you to the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding
us time and for his unwavering support of life.
Mr. Speaker, this coming Saturday marks the 38th anniversary of Roe
v. Wade, a decision that fundamentally altered the moral landscape of
America. For much of those 38 years, I have been very involved in the
pro-life movement, both as an advocate for the unborn and a counselor
of troubled women and teens, the unspoken second victims of abortion.
As we reflect upon the sobering anniversary and the tremendous loss of
life that it represents, I see reasons for hope. Attitudes are
changing, and more and more young people are rejecting abortion as a
choice for their lives.
Technology has opened remarkable windows to the womb. So much of the
early pro-life movement emerged from a frustration of the time. No one
seemed to be listening, and we tried to get people to care. Now
technology, such as the 4D ultrasound imaging, has aided us in our
quest to preserve life, showing women that their unborn is not a clump
of cells, but a child that they can see rubbing her eyes or sucking his
thumb.
As we continue to fight for the unborn, we must not cede the ground
we have won. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act circumvents
the Hyde amendment by allowing government subsidies in Medicaid,
Federal Employee Health Benefits Programs and international aid to be
used to cover abortions. For over 30 years, the Democrats and
Republicans have worked together each year to ensure that taxpayer
dollars do not subsidize abortion. The Affordable Care Act represents a
departure from that compact. Specifically, this law will allow $11
billion in taxpayer funds to be used for abortions at community health
centers.
In addition to the Federal subsidizing of abortions through the
Affordable Care Act, I join other pro-life Members
[[Page H341]]
of this Congress in expressing my concerns about the use of Skype
technology to perform telemed abortions. Planned Parenthood of Iowa is
dispensing the abortion-causing drug RU-486 through a teleconferencing
system, resulting in more than 1,900 abortions.
Our Forefathers understood that ``all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'' Among
these, the most fundamental right is the right to life.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentlelady for her statement and
for her leadership. This class, and I think the American public would
really appreciate this, of 87 Members elected on this side of the
aisle, they are overwhelmingly pro-life, and more pro-life women than
ever now sit as Members of Congress. It is really very encouraging.
I would like to yield to my good friend and colleague from Illinois,
Bob Schilling.
Mr. SCHILLING. Thank you, Representative Smith, for the opportunity
to speak during this Special Order subject of life. Today I stand to
speak for those who can't speak for themselves. As a father of 10, life
is a big issue at my house. After the Presidential election, my
daughter, Rachel, came to me and my wife and looked at me with tears in
her eyes and said, hey, Daddy, who is going to protect the unborn
children? That was a big part of why I chose to run for Congress, along
with all the other things.
Today, I was proud to become an original cosponsor of the No Taxpayer
Funds for Abortion Act. When we look at the taxpayer funds that are
going to be available for abortion, even some of my pro-choice friends
disagree with taxpayer funding of abortion.
This bill is very important. It makes permanent the Hyde amendment,
the Helms amendment and the Dornan amendment. One of the things one of
my colleagues spoke about a little bit, Tim, earlier was speaking about
looking at adoption as an alternative to abortion.
A story that sticks in my mind today is I went to a crisis pregnancy
center in Boling, Illinois, and these are folks who encounter crisis
pregnancies. And the lady was telling me the story of a young lady who
was going in for an abortion. She thought she would come in and get a
little more information. They did a sonogram, and the baby was laying
still. It was down towards the end of the sonogram, and all of a sudden
that baby just came to life and put on a show for mom. That brought a
tear to my eye when I heard that story.
When you look at life, without life, we have nothing. A big reason
that I am pro-life is that when we look at all of the doctors, all of
the people who could invent something for this great Nation, I remember
growing up in 1973 when this became legal, it was considered a blob of
tissue. Today we pull them out by their feet first to save the life of
the mother when the mother's life is in danger. And I just can't even
imagine what transpires there, and sometimes don't want to.
But I believe that as Americans, we need to defend life to its
fullest. I believe life begins at conception and it ends at our natural
death. I have talked to people who have had an abortion. The hurt goes
on with women who have had abortions. I think we need to focus in on
educating folks and giving them that alternative. And maybe every
Planned Parenthood out there should have to do sonograms maybe even in
a 3D series.
I really do appreciate an issue that is near and dear to my heart,
and I really do thank the Congressman here for putting this event
together and look forward to serving in the House of Representatives
with him.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Schilling, thank you very much for your
great statement. And your comments about your child saying, who will
defend the baby? I remember a woman by the name of Jean Garton who was
with Lutherans for Life. She was preparing a slide show of actual
abortions, which are hideous to behold, but it is a reality that has to
be understood to know what abortion really is. And her young child
walked in and said, Mommy, who broke the baby? looking up at the
shattered bodies of unborn children. So from the mouths of children,
truth is spoken.
I would like to welcome back to the House, as we all do, Steve
Pearce, a Member from New Mexico. We are just so glad to have you back.
{time} 2040
Mr. PEARCE. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, and I appreciate
his constant leadership on this issue of life.
Our Founding Fathers told us that life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness were treasured values in this country. I think that it was no
accident that they placed life at the beginning of that order.
It is easy to believe that any society is judged for its quality
based on its willingness to be a voice for those who are the most
fragile, those who have the least standing in that society. And in this
society and in all societies, none are with a quieter, less obvious
voice than the unborn. So our willingness to stand up and support them
is a reflection on the quality of this culture, and we need to do more.
Today, in Santa Fe and elsewhere around the country, pro-life
citizens join in a March for Life. While my schedule for votes here
today prevented me from being there, I am happy to associate my voice
with them tonight and in the months to come. Since Roe v. Wade was
decided, over 50 million lives have been terminated through abortion.
Great strides have been made legislatively. It is now wrong to take a
minor across a State line. The partial-birth abortion process has been
banned. Some States have passed a law requiring a 24-hour waiting
period, but much is left to be accomplished.
Ultimately, the questions comes up: When does life begin? The Supreme
Court Justices who decided the case actually expressed that concern
themselves about when life began, but that was a discussion of decades
ago. Science today leaves no doubt. The DNA is established on day one
and never changes through the baby's life. The sonogram is evolving our
Nation's view on abortion as we speak.
For many who have been educated in our universities, they believe
life begins at birth. But the young, who are looking at the sonograms
and seeing that heartbeat within the first few days, recognize that
they can no longer believe that this is some mass of tissue with
inconsequential matters at risk.
And so this Nation is beginning to become more pro-life day by day,
and that is a blessing, because in the end, every society will be
judged by its willingness to speak for those with no voice.
Again, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I am proud to add my
voice to those who speak for the most fragile--the unborn. May God
bless this country, and may God bless the mothers of this country.
Thank you.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Pearce, thank you.
One of the things that we have in Congress is a large number of
medical doctors, OB-GYNs and others who are overwhelmingly pro-life.
Dr. Roe from Tennessee is among us.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, as an obstetrician-gynecologist, I have delivered close
to 5,000 babies and strongly support the sanctity of life. Using
technology like the 3-D ultrasound has given us windows to the womb
that show the unborn child as living, breathing, a feeling human being.
I have looked through that window with my own eyes numerous times, and
I have seen human development occur from the earliest stages of the
tiniest embryo all of the way through birth, which strengthens my
conviction in the right to life.
Life is a precious miracle from God which begins at conception. It is
our responsibility and privilege as legislators to protect those who do
not have a voice. I will always fight for the right to life because it
is my conviction that we are all unique creations of a God who knows us
and loves us before we are even conceived.
Tonight we mark one of the most tragic, misguided Supreme Court cases
in our Nation's history, Roe v. Wade. Since 1973, more than 50 million
babies have been denied the right to life. We must make our laws
consistent with our science and restore fully legal protections to all
of those who are waiting to be born. If government has any legitimate
function at all, it is to protect the most innocent among us.
[[Page H342]]
For over 30 years, Congress has prevented taxpayer-funded abortions.
Unfortunately, this door has been reopened with the passage of
ObamaCare, the largest expansion since the pivotal Roe v. Wade
decision. In response, House Republicans in the Pledge to America vowed
to repeal and replace this legislation. I look forward to working with
my new colleagues to ensure this promise is kept. It is only by making
good on this oath that we can expect to restore the trust that the
American people have in their own government and, in doing so, ensure
that the door to taxpayer-funded abortions remains closed.
I want to congratulate the Hope Center in Greenville, Tennessee,
which is sponsored by the First Free Will Baptist Ministries who
support life. These people do a wonderful job in ministering young
mothers who may be single or married to preserve life.
I am glad to be here on the House floor tonight with my friend and
other legislators fighting for the rights of the unborn. And I want to
thank the gentleman from New Jersey who literally is one of the leaders
and heroes in the pro-life movement. I can't say enough about
Congressman Smith and what he has done to promote this right to life
across the country.
As I was walking over here toward the House floor tonight, I had some
thoughts about children I have delivered. I have seen those children
grow up in my hometown, Johnson City, Tennessee. The beauty of it is
that you get to coach these young kids in Little League ball and you
get to watch them grow up and come to your home and graduate. The
people I have seen have been young doctors and nurses and teachers and
college athletes and newspaper writers and news directors. All of these
young people I have delivered and seen grow up, and the world would not
be a better place if they were not here. The world would be a much
worse place. Think about how many thousands and tens of thousands and
millions of the same people I just delivered that I watched grow up in
my community that are not here today because of this terrible law.
I do want to mention one thing medically that was brought up a moment
ago about a third trimester abortion to save a mother's life. Let me
make this as clear as any doctor can make anything: There is no medical
indication whatsoever for a third trimester abortion, period. Let me
say that one more time, and I will debate this anywhere with any doctor
in the world: There is no medical indication on this Earth for a third
trimester abortion.
I thank the gentleman. I am encouraged about the degree that the
American people are changing their minds, and I think if we keep
working and talking and explaining and changing hearts, we will change
this terrible law.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman for his leadership and
the expertise of being an OB-GYN who has been there and knows better
than almost all of us how sacred and fragile the life is of an unborn
child, as well as his or her mother.
I would like to yield to Jim Lankford from Oklahoma and thank him for
being here this evening.
Mr. LANKFORD. I thank my colleague from New Jersey for hosting this
time in the House Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of one of the most basic functions of
any government. Three thousand years ago, a mom taught her son, the
king, how to be a wise ruler. We have her words written down in
Proverbs 31, where she told him, ``Speak for those who cannot speak for
themselves.''
Two hundred thirty-five years ago, our founders wrote a despot king,
``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.''
This truth that all people have the right to life is so obvious, so
clear that they called it ``self-evident.'' But in America, millions of
people cannot pursue happiness and they cannot appreciate liberty
because their first God-given right was denied--life.
In recent days, discussion from the left has turned to reducing the
numbers of abortions. I applaud this line of thinking because it admits
one thing--abortion is wrong. It destroys a life and it devastates a
future of a mom.
I ask: Why should abortion be reduced if it is just another medical
procedure to remove some unwanted tissue from a woman? If it is just
tissue, what does it matter? No one is saying that we need to reduce
the number of skin moles being removed or reduce the number of warts
that are removed, that that is unconscionable. Why? Because we know
that a wart is unwanted tissue. But a fetus, that is a baby.
We can use any euphemism, like ``fetus'' or ``dividing tissue'' or
``embryo,'' or just simply ``inconvenience,'' but no one comes to the
family and says: How is the embryo? No one says to a pregnant woman or
hears a pregnant woman say: Excuse me, I just felt the fetus kick. No
one comes to a baby shower and says: Here is a gift for your
inconvenience.
Say what you want, split hairs all you want, we know that is a baby.
Decades ago, we could not look into the womb and see the development
of the child. People were told the child in the womb was just like a
chicken embryo. But now, with 3-D ultrasound, we can look into the
darkness of the womb and see a child kicking her feet, sucking her
thumb. We can count her fingers and toes and watch their tiny
heartbeat.
{time} 2050
At 20 weeks, we can look at the child inside and even say boy or
girl. Why? Because it's a child, not just an embryo. The difference
between an adult and a child in the womb is just time. They are a
person who must be given their most basic of all human rights--life.
I strongly support defining life at conception. I strongly support
adoptions. I strongly support crisis pregnancy centers and Hope
Pregnancy Centers, which are doing such a great job all around the
country and all around my district in Oklahoma. It is time to cut off
Federal funding for abortion.
Why is it in America that taxpayers who are mortified at the thought
of abortion are required to also give their tax money to fund abortions
around the world?
When a constituent comes to me and asks, Why are my taxes so high? I
have to tell him, Partially because your government is spending some of
your hard-earned money on abortion funding around the globe.
Why is it in this Chamber today we can debate for hours if an infant
should be guaranteed health care coverage, but yet some of the same
individuals who demand insurance protection for that child would find
no issue in killing that infant only moments earlier when it was in the
womb?
Earlier today, a clinic in Philadelphia was raided, where a physician
was arrested for fully delivering infants 6, 7, 8 months into the
pregnancy and for stabbing with scissors those children after they had
been delivered--today.
This is the United States of America. This issue is not about
oppressing women or denying choice. It is about protecting children and
honoring the self-evident truth that everyone is endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights, including and especially life.
Almost four decades ago, individuals in this Chamber laid the
foundation for a court ruling that has stripped the womb of its glory
and its majesty. For decades since, legislators in this Chamber have
protected bald eagle eggs, migrating insects, snail darters, and rare
flowers, but we refuse to protect children.
May God have mercy on our Nation, and may we awaken one day to the
horror of what abortion policies have done to our Nation. We would
rather protect our fundraising, our leadership and our convenience than
protect the unborn child. This is not a difficult choice. It is a clear
choice--and we should choose life.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Lankford, for your very
powerful statement.
I would like to now yield to my good friend and colleague from
Georgia, a medical doctor as well, Dr. Paul Broun.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the greatest moral issue we face as a Nation
is the killing of 4,000 unborn children every single day through
abortion. Mr. Speaker, God cannot continue to bless
[[Page H343]]
America while we are killing these children. They're children. They're
babies. They're human beings.
When I came to Congress in 2007, the very first bill I introduced was
my Sanctity of Human Life Act. I am a medical doctor. I know without
any question that life begins when the spermatozoa, the sperm cell,
enters the cell wall of the oocyte, the egg, and produces a one-celled
human being called a zygote. That zygote is totally different from its
mom. It has every function, every bit of genetic makeup to be a grown
human being if we just nurture it and allow it to grow and allow it to
live.
I have been involved with a crisis pregnancy center in Athens,
Georgia. Not long ago, we had a young lady who was considering
abortion. She came there, and she had an ultrasound. She was about 10
or 12 weeks along. I don't recall exactly, but it was early on in her
pregnancy. She had just found out a few weeks before that she had
missed her period, so she came for a pregnancy test.
When she saw that ultrasound, her exclamation was, ``That's a baby.''
That's what we see over and over again with these expectant moms when
they see those ultrasounds. That's the reason she understood it was a
baby. It is a baby. It is a human being. There is no greater freedom,
no greater liberty, than to live. There is no greater protection that
we as a government can give to protect human beings all the way from
the time of fertilization until they have natural deaths.
You see, Mr. Speaker, God creates those children. We do not have the
moral authority to take their lives. We've got to protect their lives.
In a free society, where liberty is held in the highest esteem by every
individual in this country--whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or
conservative--the right to life is a fundamental form of liberty. We
have to protect life. That is the reason the first bill I introduce in
every single Congress will continue to be my Sanctity of Human Life
Act.
My friend and fellow Member from California, Duncan Hunter, Junior,
has reintroduced his dad's bill, Duncan Hunter, Senior. Their bill is
called Life at Conception Act. I am a cosponsor of their bill, as
Duncan Hunter, I, and now Duncan Hunter, II, are of my bill. We have to
stop this travesty, this awful, horrendous attack, moral attack, upon
our basic rights as human beings--and that is the right to life.
Mr. Speaker, if we cannot protect life, then we cannot protect any
liberty. We cannot protect any freedom that our Founding Fathers
created the Constitution to protect--those God-given rights.
We have had many of our colleagues tonight speak from the preamble
that Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776, the preamble of the Declaration
of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is considered one of the least
religious of our Founding Fathers, but he believed in life. That's the
reason he penned it there. He believed in God. We're not taught that in
school anymore, but that's factual.
You see, even if you don't believe in God, from a scientific
perspective, there is only one place in a person's life where you can
draw the line between no life being there and life and human being and
personhood being established, and that's at the time of fertilization.
Roe vs. Wade, in the decision, was predicated on there being no
legislative definition of the beginning of life. That's the reason it
is absolutely critical that we define life as beginning at
fertilization--to protect those one-celled human beings.
It is absolutely critical that every person in this country who loves
liberty and who wants to protect life contacts their Congressmen,
contacts their Senators and says, We have to protect life. We have to
protect all our God-given freedoms, particularly life. ``Contact your
Senators,'' is what I tell my constituents.
What I tell people all over this country is ``Contact your Senator.
Contact your Congressman.'' Tell him to support the Sanctity of Human
Life Act, my bill, or Duncan Hunter's bill, the Life at Conception Act.
Join in this fight because there is no greater moral issue that this
country faces. If we want God's blessings upon America, we have to
protect these most vulnerable of human beings--the unborn children.
In Proverbs, God says, Speak up for the speechless in the cause of
those appointed to die. That's what we are here tonight to do is to
speak up for those speechless, those appointed to die by abortion.
We have got to end abortion. We don't need a constitutional
amendment. We need a legislative definition: the beginning of life to
occur at fertilization. Once we have that placed into law, we will stop
this blight upon our society, this dark era in the history of this
Nation that began in 1973 with this awful decision of the Supreme Court
called Roe vs. Wade. We have to protect life. We have to protect
liberty. We have to protect every single human being's God-given
rights.
Protecting life is important--from fertilization all the way to
natural death--and I promise that I will continue with every bit of my
being, and many other of our colleagues, Republicans and Democrats
alike, will continue to fight for life.
So, Mr. Speaker, if we want God's blessings upon America to continue,
we have to end this blight upon America.
{time} 2100
We have to define life beginning at fertilization and protect life
for these unborn children.
Thank you, Mr. Smith. And I want to personally thank you for your
tireless fight in this issue because you've been a stalwart here in
this House for many, many years, and I greatly personally appreciate
the great work you've done for years and years in protecting life. So
thank you and God bless you. And we have to get the killing of these
unborn children stopped so God can continue to bless America.
Thank you, Mr. Smith.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Dr. Broun, thank you for your eloquence and
your kind remarks, and I want to thank you for your leadership. Again,
as a medical doctor, I think you and Dr. Roe and the other docs bring
such credibility.
I hope Americans are listening. I hope my friends on the other side
of the aisle who take the other side of this issue will begin
listening. There needs to be a reevaluation. America needs to take a
second look, a long and sustained look at the surface appeal arguments
of the abortion rights side.
Abortion is violence against children. It dismembers a child; it
decapitates a child; it chemically poisons a child. One of our earlier
speakers talked about RU486 and how tailor-made abortions are being
promoted by Planned Parenthood. RU486 actually operates in two ways.
The first chemical starves the baby to death so the child in utero, the
child in the womb simply cannot get nourishment to continue living. The
second chemical brings about the expulsion of that baby--who is usually
dead, but not always. If that isn't child abuse, if the other methods
of abortion are not child abuse, I don't know what is.
This idea that life begins at birth belongs in another era,
especially with ultrasound technologies available, as several of my
colleagues have said, the ``window to the womb.'' As a matter of fact,
it should be noted that even the leading pro-abortion activists in the
1960s and early 1970s, Dr. Bernard Nathanson from New York, one of the
three cofounders of NARAL, which is one of the leading pro-abortion
groups in the country, Dr. Nathanson said he presided over 60,000
deaths to children as he ran the largest abortion clinic in New York
City. He went on to become a pro-lifer. And what caused that huge
change of heart both in his mind and in his heart? It was that he began
doing blood transfusions and began to see that an unborn child is a
patient just like any other patient who may be sick, have a disability,
that early efforts and interventions could mitigate whatever that
anomaly might be. And because of that he said, how can I be in one room
killing a baby with poison or dismemberment while in another doctor's
office or in another operating theater providing this prenatal surgery?
He saw the schizophrenia inherent in treating some children because
they're wanted as being acceptable, and we welcome them, and if they
are unwanted, they're throwaways. The feminists had it right when they
said no woman should ever be treated as an object. Well, we all know
that the unborn child, if he or she is unwanted, is treated like an
object and a throwaway, and no human life is a throwaway.
[[Page H344]]
Let me also say that Abby Johnson, who just recently, a little over a
year ago, left a Planned Parenthood directorship in Texas--what caused
her to change? She saw an ultrasound abortion in real time and said, I
just saw the baby crumple right in front of my very eyes. If that isn't
a human rights abuse, I don't know what is either. So she became a pro-
lifer and now speaks out very, very boldly.
Finally, Dr. Alveda King, as I mentioned earlier, is Martin Luther
King's niece. Dr. King had two abortions. She was a ``pro-choicer.''
She now is one of the most eloquent pro-life leaders in the United
States and even in the world. She has said, ``How can the dream
survive''--talking about her uncle's dream of inclusion, of human
rights, of civil rights for all--``how can the dream survive,'' she
writes, ``if we murder the children?''
She goes on to talk about how the African American population in this
country is so disproportionately targeted by Planned Parenthood and
others. The number of abortions for African Americans is about five
times the rate of Caucasians and it is because of targeting. There are
other reasons, but that is one of the main reasons. That's where the
Planned Parenthood clinics are, frankly.
Abortion hurts women, she makes it so clear. She is eloquent in her
defense, as are others, in ministering to women who have had abortions.
One thing about this pro-life movement--and I've been in it for 38
years, I've been in Congress for 31 years--it loves them both. It says
to both the mother and to the baby, we want to put our arms around you,
we want to help, we want to be of assistance. And to any post-abortive
woman, we are all about trying to help and to assist and provide some
kind of pathway to reconciliation. That's where the post-abortive women
like Dr. Alveda King play such a crucial role in helping women who
otherwise would feel so disenfranchised and left out.
I want to thank our leadership, Speaker Boehner, our majority leader,
Eric Cantor. We have a very pro-life leadership who recognizes how
sacred life is, how this Congress, this House needs to defend the
defenseless. Tomorrow, I will be joining the distinguished Speaker as
he speaks on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. We will be
having a press conference tomorrow. We have over 125 cosponsors. I have
never seen a leadership so dedicated to protecting innocent human life
as these individuals in our leadership. I would hope my friends on the
other side of the aisle would take a second long look at the carnage,
the unbelievable pain and agony and suffering that abortion has visited
upon women. It is not pro-women. Abortion exploits women. And it's
certainly not pro-child either because it decimates unborn children as
well.
So we have a great leadership. We have an excellent group of Members,
men and women, Democrats and Republicans. And I do hope that we will
move this human rights issue forward. The young people are with us, and
this is the greatest human rights struggle ever.
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