[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2427-S2428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Women's Health Protection Act

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, let's get two things straight about the 
abortion legislation on the floor before us

[[Page S2428]]

today. One, this legislation does not represent the views of a majority 
of the American people, and two, this legislation is some of the most 
extreme abortion legislation in the world.
  It is a little hard to believe we are having a vote on this bill 
again mere weeks after it was defeated in the Senate, but I guess when 
the abortion lobby calls, our Democrat colleagues come running.
  The bill before us today, the so-called Women's Health Protection 
Act, would prop up the abortion industry and make abortion-on-demand--
at any time, for essentially any reason--the law of the land.
  My Democratic colleagues would like to convey the impression that, 
with this legislation, they are merely attempting to codify a widely 
held belief from which no reasonable American dissents. That is 
baloney. The American people don't even come close to supporting 
abortion-on-demand up until the moment of birth.
  Gallup has been polling on abortion for decades. In all that time, 
the percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be legal under 
any circumstance has always remained under 35 percent. An Associated 
Press poll from this past June found that 65 percent of Americans 
believe that abortion should generally be illegal in the second 
trimester--or from about 13 weeks of pregnancy--while a whopping 80 
percent of Americans believe that abortion should generally be illegal 
in the third trimester. Why? Well, I suspect it is because the American 
people are well aware that when we are talking about abortion, we are 
talking about the killing of human beings, innocent human beings, and 
that is not exactly something most Americans are comfortable with. 
Americans are used to defending the weak and the innocent, not killing. 
So it is not exactly surprising that Americans are not joining the 
Democratic Party and wholeheartedly embracing abortion up until the 
moment of birth.
  Democrats do everything they can to run away from the humanity of the 
unborn baby, but they are fighting a losing battle because science and 
medical technology and plain old common sense all point inexorably to 
the humanity of the unborn child.
  It is pretty hard to look at a fully formed baby on an ultrasound 
kicking her feet and sucking her thumb and think she is anything but a 
human being. Once you have acknowledged the self-evident truth that 
baby is a human being, it is pretty hard to argue that she shouldn't be 
protected. So it is no surprise that, almost 50 years after Roe, 
Americans still do not wholeheartedly embrace abortion.
  In addition to being totally out of step with the American 
mainstream, Democrats' ``Abortion on Demand Act'' is also far outside 
the mainstream of abortion law globally. Thirty-nine of the forty-two 
European countries that allow elective abortion limit such abortions to 
15 weeks or earlier. Thirty-two of those countries limit elective 
abortion to at or before 12 weeks' gestation. Meanwhile, Democrats here 
in the U.S. Senate want to enshrine abortion-on-demand up until the 
moment of birth.
  Thanks to Roe v. Wade, our country is already outside the global 
mainstream when it comes to protecting unborn human beings. In fact, we 
are currently one of just a tiny handful of countries in the world that 
allow elective abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy. Who is on that 
list among those other countries? China, North Korea--not exactly the 
kind of company we want to be keeping when it comes to defending human 
rights.
  But the so-called Women's Health Protection Act is even more extreme 
than Roe. Not only would it allow abortion through all 40 weeks of 
pregnancy, it would sweep away almost every commonsense restriction 
that has been upheld since Roe--parental notification, informed 
consent, waiting periods. All of those would be gone under Democrats' 
abortion-on-demand bill. Plus, it would open the door to Federal 
funding of abortion, forcing Americans who oppose abortion to subsidize 
it with their tax dollars--something that has been bipartisan 
consensus, again, for decades in this country.
  Furthermore, under this legislation, conscience protections for 
doctors and hospitals who do not want to perform abortions would be in 
jeopardy. The Democratic leader has suggested that this bill would not 
jeopardize the right of Catholic hospitals to refuse to perform 
abortions. I would like to believe it, but it is pretty hard to do so 
when this bill removes the right to invoke the Religious Freedom 
Restoration Act as a defense.
  The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, of course, is a 1993 law 
passed by Congress to ensure that Americans' constitutional right to 
live in accordance with their religious beliefs is protected. That law 
was actually sponsored by the Democratic leader--back, I should add, 
when the Democratic Party still believed in protecting religious 
freedom.
  While I would love to believe the Democrats are still interested in 
protecting conscience rights, it is pretty hard to believe when their 
bill takes steps to prevent providers from claiming protection under 
the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Why would you include such a 
provision in your legislation unless you intended to make sure that 
healthcare providers could not cite their religious faith to ensure 
that they are not forced to participate in abortions?
  With the legislation before us today, Democrats aren't attempting to 
codify some widely held consensus on abortion; rather, they are 
attempting to codify the most extreme views of the extreme pro-abortion 
lobby, make no mistake about it.
  It is pretty sad that the Democratic Party has come to this. The 
party that has historically portrayed itself as the defender of the 
little guy is now the party seeking to deny even the smallest 
protections to the littlest and most vulnerable guys and girls among 
us, unborn human beings. But, hey, I guess Democrats can at least claim 
that they are standing up for the abortion industry.
  I believe that we are better than this. We have to be better than 
this.
  I hope that not only Republicans but some of my Democratic colleagues 
will stand up today and say that we can do better than a law that rips 
away even the smallest protections for unborn Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask for one minute before the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. STABENOW. I find it just very frustrating to hear from my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle about how we are extreme 
because we are supporting a woman's freedom to make her own 
reproductive health decisions. That is the vote today. The vote today 
is about who decides, who decides under Roe v. Wade when the third 
trimester--which, by the way, abortions can only be done to save the 
life of the health of the mother--who decides that? The people on this 
floor? The Republicans who think it is their right to decide it? Who 
decides it? The United States Supreme Court? Who decides in the most 
personal decisions--and sometimes those agonizing decisions--a woman 
will ever have to make, the question is: Who decides? Fifty years of 
freedom is what we are talking about Republicans eliminating with this 
vote. Fifty years of freedom for women to decide what we need to do as 
it relates to our own healthcare and reproductive freedom.
  So I strongly support the women of this country. I believe in them. I 
believe in us. I trust them. I trust us. And this is about their 
choice, not a bunch of politicians deciding what is best for them.
  I yield the floor.