[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2967-H2968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DOBBS V. JACKSON ANNIVERSARY
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Norman
of South Carolina was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the
majority leader.)
General Leave
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous materials on the topic of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from South Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
Clyde), my good friend.
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration that yesterday was the
third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which
overturned the disastrous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a major victory
for the pro-life movement. This decision rightfully reaffirmed that
ending the life of an unborn child is not a constitutional right. While
this was a step in the right direction, there is still much to be done
to protect the lives of our Nation's most innocent.
Modern science objectively proves that new, distinct human life
begins at the moment of conception. It is truly incredible that, with
today's technology, we know that a baby's heartbeat starts at just
about 22 days after conception, their unique fingerprints are formed at
12 weeks of gestation, and by 15 weeks, the baby is sensitive to pain.
That is why I have cosponsored the Life at Conception Act, which
legally recognizes the life and value of an unborn child regardless of
their size or level of development.
Additionally, at the start of this Congress, I reintroduced
legislation to recognize January 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, as
the Day of Tears to memorialize the unborn victims of abortion.
Since the Dobbs decision, the fight to protect the unborn is far from
over, given the issue of abortion was handed down to the States.
Therefore, abortions are still occurring across the country, and the
rapid rise in access to the chemical abortion drug, mifepristone, is
deeply alarming.
It is estimated that mifepristone accounted for 63 percent of the
abortions in 2023, resulting in approximately 642,700 unborn babies
losing their lives that year.
Women and girls have been misled into believing that taking
mifepristone to induce an abortion is as safe as using Tylenol.
However, new data indicates that nearly 1 in 10 women taking the
chemical abortion pill experience serious complications, such as
sepsis, infection, hemorrhage, or another serious adverse event within
45 days of taking the drug.
{time} 1830
Mr. Speaker, this real-world complication rate is 22 times higher
than the FDA currently acknowledges on the mifepristone label.
Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration removed the requirement
for a woman to receive these drugs in person from a healthcare
provider. This in-person requirement allowed providers to determine
gestational age, rule out life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, and
identify signs of abuse before dispensing mifepristone.
This change not only poses serious, irresponsible medical risks but
also bypasses pro-life State laws, like what we
[[Page H2968]]
have in Georgia, by permitting the shipping of abortion pills.
Let me give you an example. This is a package, a brown envelope. This
was ordered online with a simple filling out of a form, answering a few
questions, and putting in your name and address. It showed up about a
week later.
If you look at the return address, it is fake. It says: James Smith,
2301 L Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. That is the West End Library
here in Washington. It was postmarked from Capital District 208 here in
Washington, D.C.
In this package, in this brown envelope, are three packages. One,
two, and three are the only marks on them. They are mifepristone and
the drugs that induce an abortion. They are so easily accessed online,
sent free of charge--but to whom?
I believe that any abortion is a tragedy. I also recognize that while
mifepristone is still legal--and I hope that one day it is not legal
and is banned because it is responsible for so many murders of unborn
children. While it is still legal, for the well-being of women and
girls, we must investigate the safety and efficacy of mifepristone and
reinstate in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug.
Every life is a gift from God. As leaders, our greatest
responsibility is to protect the life and liberty of every person,
especially our most innocent. After all, our first and most fundamental
right is the right of life.
Think about it. Think about the first document that birthed our
Nation, the Declaration of Independence. ``We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed.''
What was the first right mentioned? The right to life. We as a
government have a responsibility to protect that life, especially the
life of an innocent unborn child.
Abortion is not the solution. We must have compassion for both the
unborn and pregnant women who are struggling. That is why I am pleased
to know that, in Georgia alone, there are over 670 organizations that
offer support and care for pregnant women.
As we celebrate the victorious anniversary of the Dobbs decision, I
remain resolute in defending the sanctity of life and protecting the
precious unborn.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman)
for yielding.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, as we recognize the anniversary of the Dobbs
decision, I want to point out, from the outset, that there is no
species, no animal, that kills its own.
My family has been in the horse business for a good while. We raise
pleasure horses. There is no mare that we have that kills its born, the
new horse. We are in the cattle business. There is no cow that I have
ever seen that has killed what it births. Yet, we as humans, for some
reason, take that as a right that we can have.
The Dobbs decision was one of the most important decisions of our
lifetime. For nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade took power away from the
people and handed it to unelected judges, but Dobbs finally made it
right.
The Court didn't outlaw abortion, as my friends on the left tried to
claim. What it did was restore the fundamental truth that States and
the citizens who live in them have a right to decide how we protect
life.
In South Carolina, we have chosen to stand for the unborn, and I
stand before you today in unwavering support of our State's rights to
do just that.
In 2018, Governor McMaster took a bold step. He blocked abortion
clinics, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funding
because these dollars should go toward real healthcare helping women,
children, and families, not to organizations that end innocent lives.
Despite what my good friends from the left claim, killing a child is
not a birth control measure.
When Planned Parenthood sued to undo the decision, it wasn't just
about funding. It was about undermining the rights of our States, our
government, and our people.
That is why I led a bicameral amicus brief urging the Supreme Court
to take up Medina v. Planned Parenthood. This case is about far more
than Medicaid. It is about whether the States, like South Carolina, can
align their healthcare policies with their values and whether the
courts will respect these values.
Dobbs and Medina both point to the same truth. Washington, D.C.,
clearly doesn't get to decide everything. The Constitution makes it
clear those decisions rest squarely with the American people.
I will continue to fight for States' rights and for the rights of
South Carolinians to govern ourselves without Federal interference.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________