[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 192-198]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             RIGHT TO LIFE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gardner). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the right-to-life movement is 
the greatest human rights movement on Earth, a remarkable decades-long 
struggle embraced by millions of selfless women and men of all ages, 
races, colors and creed and made up in recent years, I'm happy to say, 
disproportionately of young people.
  We defend and seek to protect all the weak and vulnerable persons 
from the violence of abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. We believe 
in the politics and policies of inclusion, regardless of race, age, 
sex, disability or condition of dependence.
  Yesterday, January 22, marked the 39th year since the infamous 
holdings of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the pair of Supreme Court 
decisions that nullified fundamental pro-life protections throughout 
the United States. The catastrophic loss of children's lives since Roe 
v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton has been absolutely numbing. Over 54 million 
children have been killed by dismemberment, chemical poisoning, lethal 
pills, suction and starvation.
  Let's not forget that RU-486 is a chemical compound. It's two 
chemicals, and one of the effects of one of those chemicals is to 
literally starve the baby in the womb to death. The second chemical 
brings on delivery of a dead baby. Women have been harmed by abortion 
as well. Over 100 studies showed significant psychological harm, major 
depression and elevated suicide risk in women who abort.
  The Times of London wrote, senior psychiatrists say that new evidence 
has uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women 
with no previous history of psychological problems. They found that 
women who had abortions had twice the level of psychological problems 
and three times the level of depression as women who give birth or who 
have never been pregnant.
  Younger women are also harmed by abortion psychologically. A 
comprehensive New Zealand study found that almost 80 percent of 15- to 
18-year-olds who had abortions displayed symptoms of major depression 
as compared to 31 percent of their peers.
  Abortion also has a deleterious effect on subsequent children born to 
women who have aborted. At least 113 studies showed significant 
association between abortion and subsequent premature births. One study 
by Shah and Zoe showed a 36 percent increased risk for preterm birth 
after one abortion and a staggering 93 percent increased risk after 
two.
  What does this mean for subsequent children born to women who have 
had abortions? Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality 
in the industrialized world after congenital abnormalities or 
anomalies. Preterm infants have a greater risk of suffering from common 
lung disease, sensory deficit, cerebral palsy and cognitive impairment 
and behavioral problems.
  Low birth weight, which is also one of the consequences, is 
associated with neo-natal mortality and motility.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, at the March for Life today, there were large, 
large numbers of people, tens of thousands of people. As cochair of the 
Pro-Life Caucus, I was proud to stay with so many of our lawmakers 
here, many of whom are on the floor tonight, and also with our 
leadership, Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, Kevin 
McCarthy and Jeb Hensarling, among the most profoundly important 
speeches made about the sanctity and the dignity of human life.
  And they have produced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, H.R. 
3, which not only would be a government-wide prohibition on government 
funding for abortion, it also had a robust, very significant conscience 
clause as part of that legislation.
  The Protect Life Act and, of course, the defunding of Planned 
Parenthood, a group that aborts in its clinics some 330,000 abortions, 
330,000 dead babies in its clinics each and every year. It was a great 
march and we had women from Silent No More campaign, post-abortive 
women who eloquently speak to all women not to have abortions because 
they are the ones who have been victimized by it, but also as a pathway 
to healing and reconciliation for those who have. This movement is all 
about forgiveness and all about reconciliation and reaching out to 
those who are on the other side, especially post-abortive women.
  I would like to now yield to the distinguished gentlelady from 
Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, he said something that is so important. This is a 
special day, it's a somber day and solemn in many ways, but yet it is a 
day when you think about hope and encouragement and reconciliation. We 
all have had constituents who have come in today to express their 
opinion and to mark this 39 years to be here to protest, 39 long, 
painful years of government-sanctioned abortion on demand.
  My constituents and many Tennesseans that came here today and that 
gathered in churches and at the State Capitol in Nashville have done it 
for two reasons. One is to protest abortion. The other is to show 
respect for life. They have spoken with one voice.
  Life is a beautiful gift from God and no government should be able to 
take that life away. We know in our hearts what is true. Life is a 
natural right, and the Declaration of Independence calls for us to 
protect the smallest and the weakest among us. After all, there is no 
independence without our most basic, fundamental right, the right to 
life.
  There are a couple of things that have concerned many of us lately. 
One is abortion being smuggled into our health care system through 
ObamaCare. It is something that I think is morally indefensible, it is 
fiscally irresponsible, it is an issue that we're going to hear more 
about each and every day as we go through the year.

                              {time}  2030

  As a woman, I believe that America and our citizens deserve better 
than abortion. And I believe, and this is the second thing that has 
really caught a lot of attention lately and is an area where we are 
going to place some additional attention this year, and that is on 
Planned Parenthood. America deserves better than Planned Parenthood. 
And it's important that everyone realize, Mr. Speaker, that Planned 
Parenthood continues to profit from the destruction of human life with 
taxpayer money. This year, we are going to delve into that issue a 
little bit more and find out more about what has happened with these 
funds and the organization of Planned Parenthood.
  Today, as our constituents have come into the city, we have been 
encouraged, and we have encouraged others. It's nice to be able to 
encourage one another. We all have prayed for the millions of women and 
children who are hurt by abortion, and we have also prayed that God 
will provide the courage and the steadfastness that is needed for us to 
put an end to this national tragedy.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I want to thank my friend, Mrs. Blackburn, 
for her very eloquent comments, and thank her for her leadership.
  I would now like to yield to the gentlelady from Ohio (Mrs. Schmidt), 
who has led both in Ohio when she was there in the legislature as well 
as here in Washington.
  Mrs. SCHMIDT. I thank my good friend from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). 
Your courage on this issue will not go unnoticed.
  I really, Mr. Speaker, wanted to talk to you tonight about a little 
girl, a little girl with a 2-inch foot and the lasting impression that 
that little 2-inch foot has made.
  I come from southern Ohio, and my parish is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 
led

[[Page 193]]

by Father Michael Cordier. Father Cordier has a brother, Andy, and his 
sister-in-law, Ann. And just recently they buried their 5-month-old 
daughter.
  Sophia Grace Cordier was born with a chromosomal condition, one that 
was diagnosed long before she was born. The doctors made the suggestion 
that perhaps they should abort the child because the risks were so 
great that she wouldn't even be born alive. Given the statistics, even 
if she was born alive, it was likely she would not make her first 
birthday, so why bother. But Ann and Andy understand the meaning of 
life at all levels. They know that life is precious, and they knew that 
her life was worthy of respect.
  The amazing thing is not just the hundreds of people who came to the 
funeral, but what happened on December 23. See, the Cincinnati Enquirer 
had a front-page story on the miracle baby. They showed the risks, but 
they also talked about life and pro-life positions, our Cincinnati 
Enquirer.
  At the funeral, there were many pictures of Sophia Grace. But the one 
that left the imprint on my mind were her little 2-inch footprints. And 
her mother had, and I wished I could remember the exact words, but 
typed up something that said to the point that no matter how small the 
footprint, every footprint can make a lasting impression. Had Sophia 
not been born, the Enquirer wouldn't have run the story and it wouldn't 
have provoked the discussion for life, and who knows what other child 
wouldn't have been saved.
  Ann told me at the funeral that the value of life each person has, no 
matter their shortcomings or faults, should be loved and cherished and 
protected. Ann has it right. I believe many people in this Congress 
have it right. And I know that Americans at heart have it right.
  So today, while hundreds of thousands marched on the lawn of the 
Capitol in the rain to protest a really bad decision that was made 39 
years ago, I saw Sophia's little footprints in my mind. As I saw those 
footprints on the lawn, I thought those big footprints are making as 
lasting an impression as little Sophia because no matter how great or 
how small, we all have life's value because we are children of God.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for her excellent 
statement.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).
  Mr. WALBERG. I thank the gentleman for his courage in standing on 
this issue of life. It's an important issue. And tonight, we will have 
the privilege of hearing from lawyers and doctors and business people 
who all hold the same position, the position held with the framers and 
founders of this great country when they began in writing the greatest 
document man has ever written, I believe, the Declaration of 
Independence, that said many things, but this tonight comes in very 
important to us when they said:

       We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are 
     created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain 
     unalienable rights, among them, the right to life, liberty, 
     and the pursuit of happiness.

  They understood in their wise minds as they deliberated together and 
as they contemplated doing something that had not been done in this 
world before, they sought their Creator for wisdom, and they understood 
truths that were unique and special and truths that were blessed 
ultimately by their Creator.
  And so tonight, I don't want to speak to you from a medical 
perspective or from a legal perspective, but I want to speak from a 
perspective that really we give credence to when we look above the 
Speaker's rostrum and we see our motto for this great Nation: In God we 
trust. What does he think about what went on today? What does he think 
of what went on 39 years ago?
  Well, the Psalmist said in the word of God that was left for us to 
understand and our framers and founders read, meditated upon, 
deliberated over, and came up with something great for this life and 
this country, they read words such as this. The Psalmist in Psalm 127 
said:

       Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the 
     womb is a reward.

  The prophet Jeremiah heard from God himself who said to Jeremiah:

       Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you 
     were born I set you apart.

  Unique. Not a product of conception, a product of God's planning and 
gift.
  And then in that beautiful Psalm, Psalm 139:

       For You formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's 
     womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and 
     wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows 
     it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was 
     made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the 
     earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your 
     book were all written The days that were ordained for me, 
     when as yet there was not one of them.

  In God we trust. He designed us. He designed a purpose for all life, 
Mr. Speaker. We as humans run amuck of His plan, His wisdom, if we 
decide what is good, what is right, what is acceptable as opposed to 
saying: God, thank You for the gift.
  I'm a father of three gifts; I'm a grandfather of four, one in heaven 
that I look forward to seeing again some day after he fought and lived 
for 8 days on this Earth. I'm a grandfather of two others who are on 
the ground who I enjoy to the fullest, and a grandfather of one who is 
in the womb at this very time growing into what God intends him to be. 
And in a little over a month, I look forward to meeting and greeting 
that new creation, gift of God, formed uniquely in the womb.
  We can think of medical practices and terms, and those are good. We 
can have arguments from law and Constitution, and those are good and 
decent. But I take the words of God, the Creator himself, and find 
great sustenance in my belief that life is the greatest gift that God 
has given. And the Savior that He gave who was born of a woman in a 
womb, not aborted, said:

       I am come that you might have life, and life abundantly.

  We would do well in this great country to say ``Amen'' to that issue 
and to support life in all its forms.

                              {time}  2040

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Walberg, thank you very much for that 
very eloquent and God-centered testimony on behalf of life. I would 
point out that throughout the Capitol and throughout the country there 
were religious services on behalf of the unborn seeking reconciliation 
and wisdom from above and healing. One of those was the National 
Memorial for the Preborn and Their Mothers and Fathers right here in 
the Capitol. Clergy from various denominations gathered together to 
pray and to hear readings from the Gospels, Old and New Testaments, and 
to hear the preaching of Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for 
Life and president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, and so 
many others of all denominations and faiths pleading before the Lord 
for reconciliation and, frankly, for forgiveness for this terrible 
tragedy of abortion on demand.
  I would like to now yield to the gentlelady from New York, Ann Marie 
Buerkle. Mr. Walberg talked about the lawyers. Well, she is a lawyer 
and a nurse and brings a unique perspective to this fight, the struggle 
for the human rights of the unborn and for their mothers.
  Ms. BUERKLE. And I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his 
leadership in this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand before you this evening as we commemorate the 
39th anniversary of the infamous Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. 
And as we stand here and we reflect as a Nation the loss of millions 
and millions of unborn lives and the destruction and the damage that is 
done to the woman--there are two victims in an abortion, both the 
mother and the unborn--I think there is reason for us to be hopeful. 
This day we witnessed hundreds of thousands of Americans marching on 
the Capitol in support of life; and of those hundreds of thousands, so 
many of them were young people, high school students and college 
students standing up for life, doing the right thing. So I am hopeful 
we are changing the hearts and minds of the American people. The youth 
of today are willing to stand up for what's right, and they understand 
the words of the Declaration of Independence, that we are endowed by 
our

[[Page 194]]

Creator with unalienable Rights, among them, life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness, and the most basic right is the right to life.
  So we celebrate those youth who have the courage to stand up on 
behalf of life, and we pray for the change of the hearts and minds of 
the American people to understand that every life, regardless of how 
that life was conceived, is valuable; it has intrinsic value, and we 
must protect that life.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Ms. Buerkle.
  I would like to now yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, Dr. Roe. 
We have, in this Congress, a number of medical doctors, most of whom 
are profoundly pro-life. And in the case of Dr. Roe, I believe he has 
delivered at least 5,000 babies.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I want 
to first start out by thanking my friend and colleague, Congressman 
Smith, for being one of the most steadfast leaders in this Nation, not 
tonight, not for this 1 hour of Special Order tonight, but for decades, 
Chris, for standing up for life and what's right, and I am proud to 
associate with you.
  Today, as we went out on The Mall here, for those of you all who 
didn't see it on television, it was a cold, rainy day--and it was very 
cold last year and clear--but it didn't dampen the spirits of literally 
thousands and thousands of people who came from all over the Nation, 
and as Congresswoman Buerkle just said, the scores of young people who 
are here to celebrate life.
  Life, as has been mentioned, is a precious gift from God. And not 
only is abortion wrong both morally and ethically, it's a really bad 
idea. And I know from my practice of medicine, I'm an OB/GYN doctor, as 
Congressman Smith mentioned, and in the group that I belong to and in 
the years that I was there, we delivered over 25,000 babies, myself 
almost 5,000 babies.
  What I got to see during that time, it's been an amazing transition. 
When Roe v. Wade was passed, we didn't have access to ultrasound; and 
as ultrasound came along from just a little gray blur that you were 
able to see to now in 3-D and 4-D ultrasound that you're able to 
visualize the fingers, the hands and the movement, to see this little 
person very early on. We can identify a heartbeat at 28 days post-
conception. And I will defy anyone to tell me that that is not a 
living, breathing, in utero human being. It's a person that's there 
that just hasn't been there quite long enough yet.
  And I remember in my practice when I first began in 1977, at 32 
weeks, half of the children died of prematurity at that point. Now, 
those children live the same as a term birth. And we're seeing that 
number pushed further and further and further back with children 
younger and younger.
  We tend to think of this in our own time. Think about 50 or 100 years 
from now. Who knows what the technology will provide? Because it is a 
precious giftfrom God that we're protecting.
  I sadly stand here and tell you that 19,500 women in Tennessee in 
2008 had an abortion. That's just in one State. The rate is going down, 
and across the Nation it's going down, but it's far, far too many. And 
we've just heard a number, 54 million, that boggles my mind about how 
many people that is. And I can tell you, having had the opportunity to 
live in the community I have for 35 years and to watch young babies 
that I have delivered grow up to be teachers, coaches, doctors, and 
friends of mine--many of them are close, personal friends that I have 
delivered. I've watched them now take their children to soccer matches 
and to school plays and learn to play musical instruments and to add to 
this Nation and to add to the culture of this Nation. I can't imagine 
what this world would be like without them here.
  And one of the great privileges that I've had in my life was a person 
that I know very well at home came to me and he said, Dr. Roe, do you 
remember that boy you delivered of mine 20 years ago? I said, Yeah, I 
do. He said, You also had the privilege of nominating him to the 
military academy to Annapolis. And I stand here with great pride, and 
I'm probably one of the few people that's been able to do that. And 
what if his mother had made a different decision? This young leader in 
this country, these are the future leaders of our Nation.
  I want to finish by saying I think, to me, personally, one of the 
most heinous procedures that could ever be performed on a human being 
is a third-trimester abortion. There is absolutely no medical reason--I 
stand here tonight and will challenge anybody in this Nation of over 
300 million people to debate me on this issue. There is no medical 
indication other than termination of the child's life. There is no 
reason to do that for any other.
  I have made this challenge before, and I will make it again here 
tonight. I have yet to be taken up on that. I don't see any difference 
in that and why wait until a baby is born and do something. It's called 
murder then.
  I want to thank Chris again, Congressman Smith, for being so 
steadfast in his 30-plus years. You are changing hearts and changing 
minds. And it is a true privilege to stand here tonight with my 
colleagues and to be for life. I can't imagine being otherwise.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Dr. Roe, thank you so very much for your 
kind remarks, and you have been a leader, as have the Members that have 
been speaking. There's no single leader, except for maybe Henry Hyde 
when he was the leader here in the House. But this is a group 
leadership of men and women who are just passionately in favor of life.
  I mentioned doctors who are strongly members of this Pro-Life Caucus. 
Well, one of those is Dr. Fleming from Louisiana, and I would like to 
yield to him.
  And I just point out that the Obama administration has declared war 
on conscious protections. He has done it in a repeated fashion, most 
recently in ordering all health insurers, including faith-based 
institutions, to pay for all means of preventing pregnancy, including 
subsidizing abortifacients like Ella and Plan B. Everyone must comply 
regardless of moral objection or religious tenets simply because Obama 
says so.
  The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops recently had a grant 
to assist human trafficking victims under a law I wrote called the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act. They did a great job. The reviewers 
said so and gave it very high marks. But that wasn't enough for the 
Obama administration. This past fall, the USCCB was blatantly 
discriminated against and thrown out of the program simply because they 
would not refer for abortions.
  And Mr. Lankford, who will speak shortly as well, did a wonderful job 
in a hearing in bringing out, as did Chairman Issa, how discriminatory 
this really is.
  Leading the effort on conscience protection, prime sponsor of the 
Abortion Nondiscrimination Act, is Dr. Fleming.
  Mr. FLEMING. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Smith, not just for the 
introduction, but for the fine work you've done for so many years, sir, 
as well as Joe Pitts, our good friend and colleague.
  Mr. Speaker, I speak to you this evening as a physician of over 30 
years, a father, and a grandfather. And I have delivered, myself, many 
hundred babies and have found that that is one of the most important 
and intimate times in a person's life is taking part of and in some way 
delivering a baby.

                              {time}  2050

  Nonetheless, we have today a problem since Roe v. Wade that we are in 
great grievance about.
  You heard Mr. Walberg so eloquently talk about the passages from the 
Bible that describe about knitting me in the womb and knowing me even 
before being born. But do you realize that the DNA of every conceived 
life is unique in history? There will never be another like it. In my 
opinion, that is God's opinion, that that is a separate and distinct 
human being and a person upon itself.
  Let me share some facts with you. Do you realize that the heart 
begins beating at 23 days after conception, that the fetus begins to 
feel pain as early as 20 weeks and maybe even earlier? We are still 
waiting for some studies on that. Certainly any abortion that is

[[Page 195]]

committed in the middle or third trimester is obviously extreme agony 
for any type of fetus.
  Some other important facts. While there were approximately 744,000 
abortions in 1973, the time of Roe v. Wade, that actually peaked in 
1990 at 1.6 million. It has come down. It has come down today to 1.2 
million. Not nearly low enough. Do you realize also that over $487 
million of taxpayer money is used each year to go to Planned 
Parenthood, which is the number one provider of abortions in this 
country, committing over 320,000 innocent lives to death each year?
  There are things we are doing that are effective. You heard me say 
that we are down from a peak of 1.6 million down to 1.2 million. What 
are some of the things that we can do and have done? My home State, 
Louisiana, which was chosen by AUL to be number one in abortion law, 
has done the following: A mother-to-be must wait at least 24 hours 
after notification to actually have an abortion; she must be provided 
with information so she can read about this and have a cooling-off 
period before making that final decision; she must receive information 
about fetal pain, what I mentioned just a moment ago; and that she must 
be allowed, if she chooses, to view a sonogram to see what that fetus 
actually looks like, her potential baby. And Louisiana has declared 
that the unborn child is a human being and is therefore a person.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a lot that we have done. There is a lot more we 
can do. Although I want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, there are still 
many good laws that we can produce that I think--certainly defunding of 
organizations that provide these abortions that can sharply lower these 
numbers. There is much more we can do.
  We shouldn't just hold out for overturning Roe v. Wade. We should act 
today.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I would like to now yield to the gentlewoman 
from Alabama, Congresswoman Martha Roby.
  One of the blessings of this Congress is that we have so many 
articulate and brave women who speak out in defense of life. I have 
been here for 32 years and I think we have now more pro-life women than 
ever.
  Mrs. ROBY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to recognize the 39th anniversary of 
the monumental court decision of Roe v. Wade.
  Since the legalizing of abortion in 1973, approximately 50 million 
abortions have been performed in the United States of America alone. 
Just today, 4,000 babies have been aborted. Over the course of 2012, as 
you heard the doctor just say, 1.2 million children in the United 
States will not be granted life.
  I am unapologetically pro-life and it is a tremendous honor to be a 
part of this pro-life caucus. I believe that the miracle of human life 
begins at the moment of conception. I also believe that every human 
life has the inherent right to life and that this must be protected by 
law. As a woman, a wife and a mother of two precious young children of 
my own, I will continue to fight for the unborn as a Representative of 
Alabama's Second Congressional District.
  I applaud my own home State of Alabama in its admirable fight to 
protect human life. Alabama recently became the fifth State to pass a 
measure banning physicians from performing abortions after 20 weeks, 
which according to the research you just heard is the point where an 
unborn child can experience pain. I applaud the Alabama legislature for 
taking such a strong stance on abortion and protecting the unborn.
  I believe that I have an obligation to do everything in my power to 
fight for the unborn, prevent taxpayer money from funding abortions and 
to protect our system from the encroachment of the all-powerful 
judiciary.
  Today is the time to celebrate the gift of life and to mourn those 
lives that were unjustly ended before birth. Let us use the 39th 
anniversary of Roe v. Wade as an occasion to reaffirm our belief and to 
vow to fight for the life of every child.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentlewoman.
  I would like to now yield to my good friend andcolleague from 
Indiana, Marlin Stutzman, who before coming to the House, fought for 
life in the legislature. And he did a wonderful job.
  Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to thank him 
for his service and his fight on this particular issue. And it is a 
privilege to stand here today with so many other colleagues on this 
important matter.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here before you today as a father of two young 
boys that I'm very proud of, Payton and Preston.
  In this day of technology, it is amazing what we can now see in the 
womb. Today I brought with me a picture of my niece that my brother 
sent to me and it is on my BlackBerry. If you could see the picture, it 
is a picture of a little girl with a pudgy nose, pudgy cheeks and a lot 
of hair. The doctor tells my brother and my sister-in-law that she 
talks a lot and it doesn't surprise me for a Stutzman.
  It is amazing to see a color picture like this of a little baby girl 
27 weeks old in the womb and to see this picture and to realize the 
life that is inside the womb is truly amazing and remarkable. I believe 
that is what is going to be a big part in leading the battle in 
overturning Roe v. Wade or reversing this tragic decision that has led 
to so many lost lives here in America.
  As I served in the Indiana legislature for so many years, we fought 
this issue year after year. And I applaud the Indiana legislature, 
especially last year, in passing legislation and preventing the 
subsidization of abortions with State and Federal tax dollars. At the 
same time, I want to bring to the floor the important matter that we 
have to continue to push back on the Federal Government because the 
Federal Government has threatened to withhold other health care dollars 
from the State of Indiana for this decision.
  Indiana has actually been most recently named the most improved over 
2011 by Americans United for Life and now ranks as the number 10 State 
in the Nation for defense of the unborn. Planned Parenthood received 
over $487.4 million in government funding. That is an astounding $1.34 
million per day. By their own count, they performed 329,445 abortions 
in that same time. That is over 900 abortions a day.
  Mr. Speaker, today is the day that we stop a tragedy that is going to 
be a blight on this country. I believe that the young people across 
America that marched today here in Washington, D.C., are going to be 
the generation that puts an end to this tragedy.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you very much and thank you for 
reminding all of us that Planned Parenthood really is Child Abuse, 
Incorporated, 329,000, 332,000 the year before that of innocent 
children decimated, killed in their clinics.
  I would like to now yield to the gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. 
Stevan Pearce, who is back to us having served in the House. He came 
back after a different run.
  He is a stalwart for life and a great friend of the unborn.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. PEARCE. Thanks to the gentleman from New Jersey for leading this 
issue. The value of a Nation is measured in its willingness to speak 
for the most fragile among us.
  In the United States, it is punishable by 5 years in jail and a 
$250,000 fine to destroy an eagle egg, an embryo. If you destroy a 
human embryo, it is not only fully legal, but it is federally 
sanctioned. The Nation needs to pause and ask itself about these 
convoluted values.
  It does not pass without note that Roe vs. Wade, 39 years ago, was 
passed in 1973. It was the same year that the Endangered Species Act 
was passed protecting the eagle eggs. So at the point that this Nation 
was fully sanctioning the destruction of human embryos, it was fully 
protecting embryos of other species.
  I'm fully confident today that this tragedy is going to be reversed 
because I hear young men and young women across this Nation who are 
looking at the scientific evidence to understand that it is more than a 
blob of tissue, but this is human life that we're ending.

[[Page 196]]

  We see the decline in the value of the human in our culture because 
of decisions that this Nation's policy leaders have made, and I see 
young people across this land beginning to stand up and let their 
voices be heard. And when we speak with one voice, Washington listens. 
And in this case of protecting the human life, it is time for 
Washington to listen.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you so much for that very, very 
eloquent statement.
  I would like to now yield to Vicky Hartzler from Missouri, a new 
Member of Congress who has already made a serious impact, particularly 
on the life issue. So glad to have you here.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Thank you so much, Congressman. It is an honor to be 
here tonight on the anniversary of the 39th year of the Roe v. Wade 
court decision. And today it was so encouraging to see the hundreds of 
thousands of people from all across this country come here to march and 
to commemorate this deadline, this decision, and to celebrate life and 
to pray for the day when all life is valued in this country.
  It was cold, about 36 degrees here, and it was rainy, but people 
stood for hours out in the rain, not minding, because they believe in 
life. And people may say, well, why are the people doing this? And why 
are you pro-life?
  And I'd just like to summarize it, Mr. Speaker, in that, basically 
because it's a child, not a choice. We see those bumper stickers around 
and we don't think about them very much. But those words and that 
reality certainly has meaning for me because words matter.
  I was in sixth grade when the Roe vs. Wade decision came down, and I 
remember hearing a little bit about it, but not thinking too much about 
it. I was just busy being a 12-year old kid. But I remember one day in 
the hallway at school when a girl stopped me and said something about 
well, what do you think about abortion? What do you think? And I said, 
well, I don't know. And she said, well, do you think a woman should 
have a right to do with her body whatever she wants, and the government 
shouldn't tell her what to do? And I said, well, yeah. And she said 
well, you're pro-choice. And I said oh, well, okay. And I didn't feel 
quite right about it, but I didn't have much information, I didn't have 
much facts, I didn't know. So I remember in the future somebody asked 
me whether I was pro-choice, and I said yeah.
  But then something happened. I got some facts, I got some 
information. It was in high school, in a child development class. And 
all of a sudden I got to see, for the first time, pictures of a 
developing baby. And let me show one to you now. This is one of the 
pictures that I saw, and this is of a 2-month old baby.
  And I looked at all of these pictures, and I heard the information, 
and I realized that abortion is taking this life, and it's alive. It is 
a child. It is not a choice.
  Here's some facts that I learned: That at day 22, that's just over 3 
weeks, when most girls don't even know they're pregnant yet, the heart 
begins to beat. By the end of the third week the child's backbone, 
spinal column, and nervous system are forming.
  By week six, brain waves are detectable, fingernails are forming. 
Week seven, eyelids and toes form. The nose is distinct and the baby is 
kicking and swimming.
  By the end of the second month, which is how old this baby is here, 
every organ is in place. Bones begin to replace cartilage. Fingerprints 
begin to form, and the baby begins to hear.
  By week 9 and 10, the baby can turn his head and frown, and the baby 
can hiccup. By weeks 10 and 11, the baby can breathe amniotic fluid and 
it can grasp objects in its hand. Perhaps you've seen that famous 
picture of that surgery on that unborn baby and how that hand cameout 
and grasped the doctor's finger.
  Week 12, end of the third month, the baby has all the parts necessary 
to experience pain. Like my colleague talked about, its vocal cords are 
complete, and the baby can suck its thumb.
  Some facts that I also learned are, for instance, in 2008 there were 
1.21 million abortions done and of those, 92 percent of those abortions 
were done during the first 3 months of life. So what that means is that 
there are abortions, and it would average out to about 138 an hour, I 
figured up, two for the minute that I'm talking here, where abortions 
are taking place on babies that can hear, that have a beating heart, 
that have brain waves going, and that have vocal cords.
  It is about a child. This is not about a choice. And I commend all 
the people who came here today to Washington to speak out on behalf of 
life. And with them, I celebrate, and look forward to the day when all 
Americans are granted the right to life, whether they're born or 
unborn.
  So thank you, Mr. Speaker, for having us today.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you.
  I would like to yield to the gentleman from Nebraska, Jeff 
Fortenberry, who is the prime sponsor of the Respect for Rights of 
Conscience Act and has combated abortions both at home as well as in 
foreign nations.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the gentleman, my good friend from New 
Jersey, for the time and for his courageous leadership on this, a 
central American issue of justice.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say this first. What a day this has been. I spent 
the morning with a group of young Nebraskans who had traveled all this 
way to participate in the March for Life. And they came here to express 
one similar purpose, one truth: that all life is worthy of protection. 
All life should be loved and nurtured.
  These young people are saying that we should be big enough, caring 
enough, loving enough as a Nation to see to it that all mothers and 
their unborn children are provided for. And these young people are 
saying that we should make the great woundedness of the Roe vs. Wade 
decision a thing of the past.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it's important to note that in the same year when 
Roe vs. Wade was errantly decided by the Supreme Court, stripping 
unborn children of their dignity and right to life, that Congress came 
together and enacted a very important law called the Endangered Species 
Act. This was a very significant piece of legislation to ensure that 
the majesty and wonder of nature's creations were rightly protected.
  I believe the responsible stewardship of our environment is an 
essential cause, but there is a certain irony here. The life of a child 
should be of no less value than any other creature on earth. And in 
2010, with my support, we passed a bill prohibiting the interstate 
commerce of videos that were depicting the torture of vulnerable 
animals. Yet, in that same year, we could not move a bill forward that 
prohibited interstate abortions of vulnerable children and minors 
without parental protection. There is a grave inconsistency in these 
walls.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you had a chance to look out on the 
National Mall today. But the hundreds of thousands of young people out 
there braving both the bite of cold and wind, who understand the 
principle for which they marched, were saying this. These young people 
know that abortion hurts women. These young people are saying women 
deserve better. And they know that abortion is so often the result of a 
tragic circumstance of abandonment, an unsupportive family or, worse 
yet, a coercive boyfriend or unscrupulous doctor, and they are saying 
that we can do better as a country.

                              {time}  2110

  Mr. Speaker, I recently received a newsletter in my mailbox at home, 
and it described some people who were standing in front of an abortion 
clinic legally, peacefully providing witness to alternatives to 
abortion.
  A car pulled up in the driveway. The car hesitated. The man driving 
was very anxious and nervous. And these people who were witnessing 
there walked up and asked if they could be of assistance. The woman who 
was with him who was going in for an abortion had three children. She 
was unsure that she could care for a fourth child. In fact, she didn't 
know where her next meal was coming from.

[[Page 197]]

  They talked a bit. The couple decided to seek these nice people's 
help, who had provided a little bit of assistance, comfort, and care 
for them. And now 9 months later because of that act of compassion, 
there is a baby named David.
  We should be big enough and loving enough as a country to help people 
get through no matter how tough the circumstances.
  It is that courageous woman who made the decision to keep her child 
that gives me strength to stand on this floor to defend our shared 
convictions and fight to see the day when the scales are lifted from 
our Nation's eyes and we declare the unborn worthy of protection under 
the 14th Amendment.
  Before I conclude and yield back to my good friend from New Jersey, 
I'd also like to say a word of thanks, Mr. Speaker, to all of the women 
who are saying they will be silent no more, providing the most powerful 
example of women who have been wounded by abortion but now who are 
speaking out against the abortion industry in saying we can do better 
as a Nation.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you so much for your powerful 
statement.
  I'd like to now yield to G.T. Thompson, a good friend and colleague 
from Pennsylvania who has spoken out so eloquently time and again on 
behalf of the sanctity of life.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I thank my good friend from New Jersey 
for yielding and for hosting this Special Order about moral truth, that 
the right to life is a fundamental right, and frankly a Nation that 
kills its next generation is not a moral Nation.
  It's been 39 years since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, and for 
the 39th time, the American people have marched in Washington, D.C., in 
the March for Life to show Congress that they remain opposed to this 
decision. This year, the cold and driving rain couldn't dampen the 
resolve of the hundreds of thousands that turned out again. Their 
message was simple: stop abortion.
  The act of murdering an unborn child has no place in this country. 
For a judicial system that is taking great lengths to try and ensure 
justice and fairness in the court of law, where is the justice here? 
Mr. Speaker, I'll ask you again, where is the justice for the unborn? 
The answer is simple. There is none.
  But still Roe v. Wade and the subsequent left-wing pro-choice groups 
have pushed the envelope so that now this legalized murder of the 
unborn is prevalent across the country, accessible, and sometimes even 
partially financed by your tax dollars.
  Let us look no further than last year in my home State of 
Pennsylvania, in a neighborhood outside west Philadelphia, an abortion 
mill that was in operation for over four decades, 40 years, was 
illegally delivering and killing newborns in a so-called abortion 
procedure. For years, the procedures he performed on women who came 
into the clinic was responsible for several deaths and severely 
injuring scores more.
  For political reasons, even outlined in the grand jury report, the 
Pennsylvania Department of Health refused to inspect the abortion 
facilities. These abortion mills ran rampant and unchecked.
  So for those who argue that this legalized murder is for the woman's 
health, I ask you where is the justice for those women? Where is the 
justice for the unborn at that facility? There is no justice in 
abortion for anyone.
  Yet you look to the White House, and we have a President who states, 
``As we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our 
efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, 
and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.''
  Mr. Speaker, surely the President recognized he's wrong. Abortion is 
not the way to allow our daughters to fulfill their dreams. In America, 
everyone, regardless of color or gender, has the same rights and 
freedoms and opportunities to fulfill their dreams. Everyone except the 
unborn.
  Mr. Speaker, surely the President knows that we will never know the 
dreams of the countless unborn daughters that are not with us today 
because of the pro-abortion policies this administration enforces.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand with my colleagues tonight to say that enough is 
enough. How many more Roe v. Wade anniversaries must we endure until 
justice is done and this decision is overturned?
  I thank my good friend from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend. Again, a very, very 
powerful statement.
  I'd like to yield to Alan Nunnelee from Mississippi. I thank him for 
being here this evening.
  Mr. NUNNELEE. I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for your 
leadership. Thank you for yielding.
  Our Nation's Founders expressed in our Declaration of Independence 
that all individuals are endowed by their creator with certain 
unalienable rights, and that among these are the right to life. Yet, 
since January 22, 1973, over 50 million Americans have been denied that 
very basic right to life. Their unborn voices call from silent graves, 
asking America to change our ways.
  There's another group who suffers in silence: our mothers, our wives, 
our daughters, and our sisters. Those who have been exploited as 
victims of a multibillion dollar industry that profits on their grief.
  On this, the 39th anniversary of that decision, we rededicate our 
decision to stand for life. The measure of a society is how it treats 
its most vulnerable of itscitizens. For far too many unborn children, 
our Nation has abandoned that protection.
  Now, there are those who say that since the Supreme Court has 
declared it, it must be right. This is the same Supreme Court that 
looked at Mr. Dred Scott and said, ``Mr. Scott, in the eyes of the law, 
you're not a man, but chattel.'' The legal equivalent of a cow. The 
Supreme Court was wrong in 1857, and it was wrong in 1973.
  We will answer to a higher law, a law higher than we debate in this 
hallowed Chamber, a law higher than is discussed across the street in 
the Supreme Court. And that law says:

       For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's 
     womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and 
     wonderfully made. My frame was not hidden from You, when I 
     was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of 
     the Earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in 
     Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me 
     when as yet there was not one of them.

  Mr. Speaker, I echo the prophet of old:

       This day I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against 
     you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and 
     curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children might 
     live.

  This night we choose life.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman from Mississippi.
  I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Pompeo).
  Mr. POMPEO. Mr. Speaker, we often come to the podium to talk about a 
bill or piece of legislation. Today I have the great privilege to stand 
in support of protecting every human life.
  In Kansas is a place that has marked a great piece in the history of 
the pro-life movement. In the early 1990s, the Summer of Mercy was held 
in Kansas. A huge step forward in people speaking out about the tragedy 
that is abortion.
  I, personally, a couple years later had the privilege of working 
doing some research for a woman named Mary Ann Glendon, who became the 
ambassador of the Vatican, who taught me about how this movement can 
work, and how we can begin to eradicate this plague that sits on top of 
America after still 39 years.
  For me, too, it's personal. I have a nephew and a niece that, but for 
a pregnancy crisis center in Wichita, Kansas, would not be my niece of 
6, Emily, and my nephew of 10, James. Two brave women who made the 
right decision.
  Today was an incredible privilege. I got to stand at the Mall and 
look out at hundreds of thousands of folks, including enormous groups 
of young people who came from Kansas on buses of 25-hour rides from 
Clearwater and from

[[Page 198]]

Norwich and from Garden Plain, and from our high schools and colleges 
in Kansas who came today to stand for life and to say that this 
movement will continue, that we are winning, that after 39 years we can 
now say that America understands that this is not about choice but 
about protecting those lives.
  To see those young faces and those young smiles was a glorious thing. 
I want to thank them for coming to Washington, D.C., to be part of this 
today, and with them and with our continued effort we can do the right 
thing and protect every human life.

                              {time}  2120

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. 
James Lankford.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I recently read about a couple who found 
out there was a problem in their pregnancy, that their child had not 
developed all four sections of its heart. So, at 23 weeks, they did a 
surgery where they reached in with a needle into the womb. They used a 
balloon technique to be able to open up the fourth chamber of the heart 
of that child. At 23 weeks, the family could gather around and see the 
video and celebrate this incredible scientific act of medical bravery, 
and then the family celebrated something wonderful that had happened. 
They had protected the life of a child. They reached into a beating 
heart, still in the womb at 23 weeks, and saved that child.
  The frightening part is, across town, a different mother at 23 weeks 
of pregnancy, which is before viability in many States, could go to a 
different doctor, who could reach into that womb and pull that child 
apart limb by limb. The family wouldn't stand and celebrate nor would 
we look at the video and say that's beautiful, like we did with the 
other surgery.
  Yet, in the cognitive dissidence of our Nation, we celebrate one 
mother, and we protect the other one simultaneously. It is unmistakable 
to look in that womb and see a life for both of them. Understand, this 
is a child in both instances, and they must stand to be protected.
  It is a difficult thing for the President to say today that we must 
reduce the need for abortion. There is only one need to reduce the need 
for abortion: that is if the President understands the same thing that 
we do, that it's a life. He would not stand and say we need to reduce 
the need for some skin tissue or some mole on your arm. If it were only 
tissue, there is no need to try to reduce the need, but he understands 
we do need to reduce the need. As the President stated today, this is 
not protecting the dreams of our daughters; this is protecting the 
daughters that will never be and the nightmare guilt that is on so many 
women who have gone through an abortion.
  We must stand for life. I look forward to the day. I look forward to 
the day that generations ahead of us will look back at this time and 
say, I am so glad that the Nation finally chose life.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hultgren).
  Mr. HULTGREN. Henry Hyde was a personal friend and mentor of mine. He 
first helped restrict abortion funding just 3 years after Roe v. Wade. 
Today, Planned Parenthood receives over 363 million tax dollars a year. 
We're giving 1 million tax dollars a day to an organization in 
desperate need of oversight. If he were here today, I think Henry Hyde 
would be shocked and appalled at the abhorring conditions of fraud, 
overbilling, and the general lack of transparency found at Planned 
Parenthood and at other abortion clinics across the country.
  We must win this fight for life. It's the only way that we can 
literally win our future.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I now yield to the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Huizenga).
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. I, too, want to rise today in recognition 
of this 39th year since this decision has come down from the Supreme 
Court, and it is something that has affected my family, my life. I 
think we have all known somebody who has had an abortion, whether she 
felt forced into it or whether she made that choice. Every single one 
of them, I know, has regretted that.
  This issue of life became very personal for my wife and me as we had 
to move forward through troubled pregnancies and after losing quite a 
few pregnancies, struggling with that whole notion of ``what is life?'' 
and of ``what does that mean to have that life growing in you?'' We 
firmly came down on the side of this being a gift from God, that 
creation that happens. That's something that we want to protect.
  I can tell you that the hardworking taxpayers don't expect their 
dollars to go towards procedures such as this and that it's something 
that this House has continued to fight for. I hold this issue very 
dear, and my wife, who now serves on the board of a crisis pregnancy 
center back in west Michigan, also holds that very near and dear. I 
will continue to fight for that sanctity of life and for that dignity 
of life at the beginning as well as at the end as long as we're here in 
Congress.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. In conclusion, tomorrow night, the President 
will call for a return to American values in his State of the Union 
message.
  Mr. President, the violent destruction of the child in the womb, of 
the killing of babies and of the wounding of their moms is not an 
American value.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________