[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 28138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to discuss something that 
struck me as downright chilling when I saw it yesterday in the paper. 
It was the signing of the so-called partial-birth abortion bill. I want 
to show a picture as it appeared--as I first saw it in the Washington 
Post. I challenge anybody: Find a woman in that picture. We even 
broadened it to a larger picture, and once again I issue the challenge: 
Find a woman in this picture. There are 10 men, not 1 woman in that 
picture.
  This picture represents the most sweeping attack on women's rights in 
30 years. What do we see? We see a group of gleeful men, smiles across 
their faces. We don't see the picture of the women who are frightened 
to death about what can happen if they need to make a decision to 
protect their health, in the company of their doctor.
  This gleeful group is watching President Bush sign away women's 
rights. Look at the image--not a woman on the stage. Does anybody doubt 
about how the population splits 50-50 between the two genders? But 
here, in these two pictures, it is all men, and it is downright 
frightening.
  It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. When women 
across America picked up the paper or watched the news and saw this 
image, it spoke volumes. This photo says to women: Your right to make 
choices about your health and your body is being taken back from you.
  I am the proud father of three daughters and five granddaughters. I 
don't want the men in these pictures making decisions for my daughters 
or my granddaughters when it comes to their health and their well being 
and their families' well-being. Thank goodness, all of my children have 
children. They have wonderful families. But they have to take care of 
those families. If their health is jeopardized by a pregnancy or a 
disease, I want them to be able to take care of it.
  Not here. These men will make your choices for you.
  I am old enough to remember a time when women were not permitted to 
make choices, when women couldn't hold certain positions in society. 
There was a time when women couldn't vote. We have made great strides 
forward to advance women's rights, and one of those rights is the right 
to choose. But look at this picture. These fellows are eager to snatch 
those rights away from women.
  The absence of women on the stage says something. Make no mistake. We 
have more than a dozen women in the Senate. I don't know what the count 
is in the House. Not one of them stood on this floor during the debate 
and defended that law that was passed and signed so smugly at the White 
House. I call this a ``malegarchy'' and this photo captures the essence 
of the ``malegarchy'' women live under today.
  If we keep going backwards, maybe it will be possible our women will 
live like they do in parts of the Middle East and have to wear burqas. 
The men will decide.
  I think it is shameful. It is embarrassing to see this image in the 
21st century in the United States of America. Have we entered a time 
warp? In some ways we have. Ultra right-wing conservatives who control 
this Congress and control the White House are more in line with the 
thinking of the 19th century than the 21st century.
  The conservatives today speak of ``traditional family values'' and 
protecting marriage. Those are their buzz phrases, but you look back in 
history and what you see here is a repeat of the same themes constantly 
used to keep women subservient. I couldn't get away with that in my 
household.
  In 1914, during the battle over the women's right to vote, there was 
a group called the Nebraska Men's Association Opposed to Women's 
Suffrage--that was the title of the organization. It was organized in 
1914. The group published a document expressing its reasons for 
opposing women's suffrage. The association claimed if we give women the 
ability to vote, to make electoral choices, then that would lead to 
``attempts to change home and marriage.'' Does that sound familiar? It 
is the same rhetoric we hear today. In this picture, it is the same 
rhetoric being used at this bill signing.
  We also hear about the ``culture of life.'' What about the woman's 
life? What about her health? This law does not include a health 
exception. What if a woman's health is in danger? What if her life is 
ultimately threatened by complications stemming from the pregnancy? And 
where is the culture of life when that fetus is born? Where is the 
culture of life for children who have been born?
  Earlier in this Congress, the anti-choice conservatives led the fight 
against the child tax credit for low-income working families. Where are 
the family values in that? Where is the culture of life in that?
  How about nutrition for those children? How about education for those 
children? How about health care for those children?
  We have seen ``no'' vote after ``no'' vote on funding these programs 
for making our children healthier and brighter and more productive.
  I was pleased to see the Federal courts in Nebraska and New York 
issue injunctions against this unconstitutional abortion law. The vast 
majority of legal scholars predict this law will be easily overturned, 
based on Roe v. Wade, and it should.
  The famed American suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton said ``men want 
their rights and nothing more, but women want their rights and nothing 
less.'' As we can see with the signing of this bill, women's rights are 
still under attack. We must not settle for anything less than full 
reproductive rights for women in America.

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