[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 15 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Pages 646-647]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Joseph Cardinal Bernardin on Partial Birth Abortion 
Legislation

April 10, 1996

Dear Cardinal Bernardin:

    I want to thank you for your letter on H.R. 1833. I appreciate and 
considered the strong moral convictions you expressed.
    This is a difficult and disturbing issue, one which I have studied 
and prayed about for many months. I am against late-term abortions and 
have long opposed them, except where necessary to protect the life or 
health of the mother. As Governor of Arkansas, I signed into law a bill 
that barred third trimester abortions, with an appropriate exception for 
life or health, and I would sign such a bill now if it were presented to 
me.
    Indeed, when I first heard the procedure referred to in H.R. 1833 
described, I thought I would support the bill. But as I studied the 
matter and learned more about it, I came to understand that this is a 
rarely used procedure, justifiable as a last resort when doctors judge 
it necessary to save a woman's life or to avert serious health 
consequences to her.
    In the past months, I have learned of several cases of women who 
desperately wanted to have their babies, who were devastated to learn 
that their babies had fatal conditions and would not live, who wanted 
anything

[[Page 647]]

other than an abortion, but who were advised by their doctors that this 
procedure was their best chance to avert the risk of death or grave harm 
which, in some cases, would have included an inability to ever bear 
children again. For these women, this was not about choice. This was not 
about having a headache or fitting into a prom dress, as some have 
regrettably suggested. This was not about choosing against having a 
child. These babies were certain to perish before, during or shortly 
after birth. The only question was how much grave damage was going to be 
done to the woman.
    In short, I do not support the use of this procedure on an elective 
basis where it is not necessary to save the life of the woman or prevent 
serious risks to her health.
    That is why I implored Congress to add a limited exemption for the 
small number of compelling cases where use of the procedure is necessary 
to avoid serious health consequences. The life exception in the current 
bill fails to cover cases where the doctor believes not that the 
mother's death is probable, but rather that, without the procedure, 
serious physical harm, often including losing the ability to have more 
children, is very likely to occur. I want to say again that if Congress 
will amend the bill as I have suggested, remedying its constitutional 
and human defect, I will sign the bill.
    Again, I thank you for your concern. These are painful and sobering 
issues. I understand your desire to eliminate the use of a procedure you 
see as inhumane. But to eliminate it without taking into consideration 
the rare and tragic circumstances in which its use may be necessary 
would be, in my judgment, even more inhumane.
    Although I know you disagree with me on this matter, I hope we can 
continue our dialogue and continue to work together on the broad array 
of issues on which we do agree. I need your help and your insight.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill Clinton

Note: The letter was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on April 10, but was not issued as a White House press release.