[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9396]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT

  (Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in opposition to H.R. 1797. 
This act is both dangerous and unconstitutional and violates the rights 
of women who are in need of an abortion. It is blatantly 
unconstitutional and in clear violation of more than 40 years of 
Supreme Court precedent that protects women's access to abortion prior 
to viability, that is, prior to 24 not 20 weeks. This precedent was 
first established in Roe v. Wade and affirmed in Planned Parenthood v. 
Casey.
  Make no mistake, pregnancy due to violent and unfortunate 
circumstances such as rape and incest happens to thousands of women 
every year, not to mention medical complications that imperil the life 
of the mother. Women impacted by rape and incest must not be further 
victimized by this misguided legislation.
  We must not allow our Nation's right to choose to be infringed upon 
by a minority of people in this Nation. We cannot let them bully the 
rest of the country into accepting their world view. That is why I will 
continue to support a woman's right to choose and stand in opposition 
to H.R. 1797, and I stand up for women's right to self-determination.

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