[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 12 (Friday, January 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S344-S345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MARCH FOR LIFE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
welcome the Iowans who have traveled to the Capitol today to be with us 
for the March for Life.
  I commend them and the many other Americans who have traveled here

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from every corner of the country to embrace the sanctity of life. Their 
participation in this march symbolizes their compassion and concern for 
the most innocent and vulnerable among us.
  I also want to call on my colleagues to join us in supporting the 
immediate passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This 
common-sense measure, which I have cosponsored, recognizes that the 
government has an interest in protecting the unborn from the 
excruciating pain they are capable of experiencing during a late-term 
abortion.
  Some people call this measure ``Micah's Law,'' in honor of an Iowa 
boy, Micah Pickering, who was born at 20 weeks postfertilization. I 
have met Micah and his parents. Micah didn't just survive. He is a 
beautiful little boy who is thriving.
  Research suggests that, after the fifth month of pregnancy, the 
nervous system of the unborn child has developed to the point where 
that child is capable of detecting and responding to painful stimuli. 
This also is around the time when the unborn baby is soothed by the 
mother's voice. We are hearing that babies may learn within the womb, 
absorbing language sooner than we previously thought, so it should 
surprise no one that these same unborn babies can experience intense 
pain during a late-term abortion when their limbs are being torn apart 
in their mother's wombs.
  Currently, the United States is one of only about seven countries in 
the world that permit elective abortions past 5 months. Among the very 
few that embrace late-term abortions are Vietnam, Singapore, and North 
Korea. Passing this bill, which imposes restrictions only on elective 
abortions and only after the fifth month of pregnancy, would bring the 
United States in line with the vast majority of countries around the 
globe. Lawmakers in these other countries have grasped the concept that 
late-term abortions are essentially barbaric and often unnecessary.
  Many of my colleagues actively supported the Americans with 
Disability Act. How could you support a measure like that and not also 
seek to protect the unborn babies whose parents might choose to end 
their lives late in pregnancy merely due to a disability like Down 
syndrome? I believe that the lives of unborn babies with this condition 
have the same value as those of other unborn babies.
  If you do not support restrictions on abortions after the fifth month 
of pregnancy, when infants at the same stage of development are being 
born prematurely and, like Micah Pickering, surviving long term, then 
what, exactly, is your limit--if any--on abortion?
  I remind my colleagues that the American people overwhelmingly 
support restrictions on late-term abortions. Numerous States, including 
Iowa, already have passed similar legislation to protect the unborn 
baby who is capable of experiencing pain.
  In 2016, I convened a congressional hearing at which two doctors 
testified in support of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. 
We learned that about a quarter of the babies born prematurely, around 
5 months, will survive long term if given proper medical assistance.
  One of the doctors who testified, Colleen Malloy, is an associate 
professor in the pediatrics department at Northwestern University's 
School of Medicine. According to Dr. Malloy, by 20 weeks of 
development, the unborn baby's pain receptors are present and linked. 
As further explained by Dr. Malloy, at 20 weeks' fetal age, premature 
babies are ``kicking, moving, reacting, and developing right before our 
eyes in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We can easily witness their 
humanity, as well as their experiences with pain.''
  Dr. Anthony Levatino, a practicing gynecologist with decades of 
experience, testified similarly at a House hearing several years ago. 
Dr. Levatino estimates that he performed over 1,000 abortions in 
private practice, until his adopted daughter died in a car crash. His 
child's death was a life-changing event that led him to stop performing 
abortions. Performing an abortion on a 24-week-old unborn child is 
undoubtedly painful for that baby, Dr. Levatino testified. Scientific 
studies confirm that the unborn can experience pain after the fifth 
month.
  The Judiciary Committee in 2016 also heard testimony from Dr. Kathi 
Aultman, a former abortion provider. She told us, an ``abortionist 
knows exactly what he or she is doing because they must count the body 
parts after each procedure'' to make sure they have cut the whole baby 
out of the mother.
  Dr. Aultman also questioned why an unborn baby who can live outside 
the womb should be given no consideration, no protection, and no rights 
just because the child is unwanted, and she is right. Why shouldn't we 
have compassion for babies whose nervous systems are developed enough 
for them to experience pain? Why shouldn't we protect them from 
dismemberment with steel tools?
  This is a measure that the majority of Americans--including a 
majority of women--broadly support. Once again, I urge my colleagues to 
embrace the sanctity of innocent human life and vote for this landmark 
legislation.

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