[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD--CHILD ABUSE, INCORPORATED
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HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, today I joined Kristan Hawkins,
Marjorie Dannenfelser from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and many
distinguished pro-life leaders to call for the defunding of Planned
Parenthood--Child Abuse, Incorporated--an organization that has
slaughtered over ten million babies in their clinics and kills more
than a thousand defenseless unborn babies each and every day.
For far too long, politicians and much of the media have ignored,
trivialized, enabled, and whitewashed the business of Planned
Parenthood--decapitating and dismembering helpless babies with sharp
knives or poisoning babies with pills that literally starve them to
death and often result in their bodies being flushed down a toilet.
Child decapitation, dismemberment and starvation are not health care.
It is violence--and at a minimum, taxpayers should not be forced to pay
for this hideous form of child abuse.
Federal taxpayers provide Planned Parenthood with nearly $600 million
dollars every year. That must end.
Reconciliation legislation offers an important opportunity to stop
funding abortion purveyors like Planned Parenthood. This is an
opportunity we cannot afford to miss.
Let's not forget that undercover videos have exposed in numbing
candor several high-level Planned Parenthood leaders gleefully talking
about procuring children's internal organs, all while altering gruesome
dismemberment procedures to preserve intact livers, hearts, and lungs
from freshly killed babies.
In February, the New York Times published an in-depth article
detailing horrible clinic conditions, including sewage that seeped into
a recovery room for two days, and the shocking treatment women have
received, leading to patient complaints and a malpractice suit.
Our Nation should invest in real health care options for women and
their families. Federally Qualified Health Centers, for example,
provide comprehensive services, including prenatal care, STI testing
and treatment. A 2022 report found ``14 community-based health clinics
and pregnancy centers for every one Planned Parenthood facility in the
United States, including more locations in rural and underserved
communities.''
And with love and compassion, the pro-life movement will continue to
tangibly assist women and girls--especially through the extraordinary
work of pregnancy care centers. There are more than 2,700 pregnancy
care centers throughout the United States--each and every one of them
an oasis of love, compassion, empathy, respect, and quality care for
both mothers and their precious children. According to a January 2025
poll, 83 percent of Americans support these centers, including 80
percent of the individuals who identify as `pro-choice.'
Mr Speaker, I'd like to include in the Record one of the many
outstanding statements from the press conference, offered by Toni
McFadden:
``Good afternoon! My name is Toni McFadden, and I'm here to
share my personal story--one that reveals exactly why Planned
Parenthood must be fully defunded.
I was a senior in high school when I walked through the
doors of Planned Parenthood's death facility. They had given
me a false hope that if I aborted my baby, my parents would
never have to find out, my already unstable relationship
would have a fighting chance, and my life would go back to
normal.
After receiving an ultrasound and asking the nurse multiple
times if I could see the screen that was strategically faced
against the wall, she reluctantly showed me but quickly
stated that my 7-week-old baby and I quote, ``was nothing,
just the size of a pea.''
It would have been too honest of her to tell me that my
baby already had a beating heart or that, at the moment of
conception, their DNA was unique to them and would never ever
be created again.
Instead of the truth I was given the poisonous chemical
Abortion pills. The first set was taken with the abortionist
and the second set was given to me to take in the comfort of
my home. I was told it would only be like a heavy period.
I had complications like many women who think this is a
simple thing to do. My pills didn't work correctly and when I
called the abortion facility they simply said: ``This is why
we gave you 2 sets of the pills. Just take the second set and
you will be fine.'' I wasn't fine. It would be the last I
would hear from them. I was so uneducated and had the goal of
no one finding out. I ended up experiencing severe
hemorrhaging that began while I was in school about a month
later.
I remember when I got home, keeping this secret from my
parents. I went to the bathroom to my bed for hours just
bleeding.
If I could go back, knowing what I know now--
I would give my baby life without hesitation.
Planned Parenthood didn't care about me.
They didn't care about my baby.
And they don't care about women, especially minority women.
They exploit women for their own financial gain.
This is why they must be defunded.
Abortion doesn't solve our problems--it adds to them.
Abortion doesn't bring healing--it leaves deep wounds and
lifelong regret.
No woman should have to walk through what I walked
through--
Believing lies, and left to suffer alone.
Abortion only reaps one thing: death.
So today, I stand not just for myself--
But for every woman who's been deceived.
For every child who was never given a chance.
We must stop funding the lies.
We must stop funding the pain.
We must stop funding death.
From the first heartbeat to the final breath, every life
holds value. Every soul deserves a chance. Life is a gift
worth defending.''
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