[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S145-S146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                ABORTION

  Mr. LEE. Now, Mr. President, I would like to discuss another 
important matter. This past week, we marked the anniversary of a deadly 
day in American history. It has resulted in the loss of millions of 
innocent American lives. That is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
  Since January 22, 1973, more than 60 million unborn children have 
been lost to the scourge of abortion. This week, we honor and remember 
those lives, as well as those who have been hurt by the pains of 
abortion.
  In a normal year, tens of thousands of Americans would be marching 
down Constitution Avenue this Friday to do so. This year, as with so 
many other things, the March for Life will instead be virtual. But, 
nonetheless, Americans will continue to march, whether virtually or in 
person where they can.
  The theme of this year's march is ``Together Strong: Life Unites!''--
a fitting theme following a year ripe with division, violence, and 
loss. Now, more than ever, we must unite as a nation, turning with hope 
toward the future--hope that our Nation will heal, hope that justice 
will prevail, and hope that the grievous act of abortion will be 
forsaken. Given our country's history, in which we have stubbornly made 
mistakes but, thankfully, have come around in the end, there is much 
reason for hope. But we cannot heal and we cannot unite if we don't 
honor and respect all of the American people, born and unborn.
  So many of the deepest injustices in our country's history stem from 
one dark dangerous thing; that is, when we have rejected the dignity of 
the human person, when we have denied the humanity of our brothers and 
sisters, when we have discriminated against others based on the way 
they look, think, love, or worship, and when, because of that, we have 
looked at them not as people but as things and as mere objects to be 
acted upon.
  As abolitionist William Lord Garrison put it, the worst kind of 
oppression to be regarded with the greatest degree of indignation and 
abhorrence is ``that which turns a man into a thing.''
  Now, we have discriminated against a whole class of people not based 
on the color of their skin but on their age and development.
  But it doesn't change the truth. The truth is that a baby inside the 
womb can respond to human touch by the age of 8 weeks and feel pain by 
the age of 20 weeks--who can recognize her mother's voice even before 
she is born; who has a perfect little nose, fingernails, and a beating, 
fully functioning heart, her own distinct unique DNA, and her own 
unique unrepeatable soul.
  Science and medicine are only confirming what we know deep down, that 
unborn human beings are in fact little

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persons. The evidence is only getting plainer by the day.
  When we deny the humanity of our brothers and sisters, as we have 
seen throughout our history and over the past year, the inevitable and 
tragic result is violence. Abortion does undeniable violence to the 
baby and undeniable violence to the mother. Thankfully, looking back at 
the past decade, we have made significant strides toward building a 
culture that respects, values, and even protects all human life, even 
in its simplest, earliest stages of development.
  Many States have ensured that public funds are directed toward 
pregnancy health centers, rather than abortion facilities, providing 
life-affirming alternatives to families in need. And in just the last 
decade alone, States have passed more than 400 pro-life laws--more than 
one-third of all pro-life laws that States have passed since Roe v. 
Wade was decided. This is indeed reason for hope.
  Through our laws and with our lives, we ought to affirm the truth 
that the lives of both the mother and the baby matter and that 
healthcare should heal, protect, and preserve both of those lives.
  I have introduced legislation to help our laws affirm that very 
truth. Through my bill, the Abortion Is Not Healthcare Act, we have a 
chance to stop the tax deductibility of abortions, which are currently 
categorized as ``medical care'' by the IRS, because we must be serious: 
Whatever else it may be, of course, elective abortion is not 
healthcare. That is why physicians literally take an oath to do no 
harm. The government should not offer tax benefits for a procedure that 
kills hundreds of thousands of unborn children each and every year.
  We also have the chance to prematurely stop the use of American 
foreign aid--the opportunity permanently to stop the use of American 
foreign aid--from funding or promoting abortions overseas and 
perpetuating violence against women and of children abroad, especially 
baby girls.
  The Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance Act will save countless 
lives across the globe, and it affirms the truth that the lives of all 
unborn children, regardless of where they are from, have dignity and 
worth.
  As the lyrics of a children's song in my church--a song that I sang 
in Sunday school as a child--say about each one of us, I am a child of 
God. We are all one human family, all children of God--these littlest 
among us, too, who cannot yet sing for themselves, but they will soon. 
They will soon.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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