[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 16, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H611-H612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Marshall) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Speaker, I grew up in a small town in Kansas, and 
perhaps the most respected person in the city was our family physician, 
Dr. Norman Oberholtzer.
  Dr. Oberholtzer delivered my brother, my sister, and, of course, me. 
He saved my life. He had saved many people's lives. By the time I was 
in 9th grade, I knew I wanted to be a physician just like Dr. 
Oberholtzer. I worked hard and with the support of my family and 
friends was able to get into medical school, and by the time I was a 
second-year resident, I was supposed to decide what type of physician 
was I going to be.
  Go back to February of 1987, and we had our first baby, a little girl 
named Lauren. And the second she was born, the moment I heard her first 
cry, I said: This is what I want to do. I want to deliver babies the 
rest of my life.
  So as an obstetrician for the next 30 years, every day I got to see 
10, 20, 40, sometimes 50 pregnant women. It was a great experience and 
there were some very special visits that I really looked forward to 
with those moms. Their first visit for a first-time mom was always a 
special moment.
  The moms came in. They had a twinkle in their eyes and they may have 
been throwing up for 3 or 4 or 5 days already, but there was still a 
sparkle in their eye and excitement.

                              {time}  1100

  Sometimes I would get to do a sonogram at that first visit. Believe 
it or not, about a month after conception, Mr. Speaker, you can see a 
baby's heartbeat. They would come back at about 12 weeks for their next 
visit. By then, their nausea was improving, and we could hear a baby's 
heartbeat on the Doppler for the first time.
  They came back again at about 18 weeks, and I would ask them: Do you 
feel the baby move yet?
  Again, the mom's eyes would sparkle that they are feeling that baby 
move. I would notice when I would touch the mom and when I would touch 
the baby, the baby would push back. If there was maybe a brother or a 
sister in the room, if that brother or sister spoke, I could feel the 
baby move, and I could actually hear the heart rate increase of that 
little baby inside that mom.
  Then, of course, later on, the favorite moment of my entire life was 
always getting to hear that first cry of that newborn and give that 
baby to a proud mom and dad.
  So those are great, great times.
  Mr. Speaker, I am often asked when I think life begins. I hope you 
can relate from the stories I just shared that I don't have any other 
choice but to believe that life begins at conception and that those 
babies are people, and they deserve our respect and our protection.
  Mr. Speaker, this week, we will be welcoming 200,000 people to 
Washington, D.C., for the March for Life.
  I especially salute some students who are coming from Beloit, Kansas, 
and Concordia, Kansas. Like many students, they will be riding a bus 
for 24 hours. I am so proud of them, and I look forward to seeing them. 
I appreciate their efforts to put their words into actions.

[[Page H612]]

  Mr. Speaker, as a doctor for over 25 years, I have delivered 
thousands of babies. I certainly understand the responsibility I have 
as a Member of Congress to protect the life of the unborn. In the last 
2 years, this House, thanks to a Republican majority, has passed 
countless bills to limit abortion, end taxpayer-subsidized abortion, 
and prohibit abortions of unborn babies over 20 weeks. Unfortunately, 
these bills never made it to the President's desk.
  Today, the United States is one of seven countries in the world that 
allows babies old enough to feel pain and survive outside the womb to 
be torn limb from limb. This list of seven includes China, North Korea, 
Singapore, Vietnam, and a list of other human rights offenders that our 
Nation, this country, should not be proud to be part of.
  Each year, more than 600,000 abortions are performed across this 
country, costing our country precious lives. The fact is, only one in 
seven Americans support legal-under-all-circumstances Roe v. Wade, and 
still, Congress refuses to act.
  Over the course of my first term, I made it a top priority to fight 
for those who can't fight for themselves, and I will continue to do so. 
Abortions are an injustice to the unborn and are a complete disregard 
for life. Congress should prevent taxpayer money from ever being 
funneled into immoral organizations like Planned Parenthood and finally 
put an end to abortion. I will unapologetically stand with the 
children, with these babies, who do not have a voice of their own to 
fight.

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