Protecting the Unborn

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressmen Franks, Smith, Hartzler, King, and all of the others, all of my colleagues who have spent so many years working for the sanctity of every human life in this Chamber. For nearly 20 years, I have been working to defend the sanctity of every human life in the courts, and that brings us here today.

You and I have talked about this many times that it is our Nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, which states so succinctly what has been known as the American creed. And in that creed, as articulated in the second paragraph of the Declaration--we know the language well--``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.''

The reason the Founders recognized that fundamental freedom, the right to life, and recognized it first is because it is so essential to who we are as human beings. The reason the Founders recognized that and sought to put it first is because they understood, they acknowledged, that we are made in the image of a Holy God. We are made in the image of that creator who gave us those rights. And because of that, every single human life has inestimable dignity and value.

And are values not related in any way to our socioeconomic status, the color of our skin, where we went to school, what we make for a living, what we can contribute to society, our talents, how good- looking we are--totally irrelevant. Our value is inherent because it is given to us by our creator.

So tomorrow, because of your hard work, we have a landmark opportunity with the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. I am proud to stand in support of that bill and to assist as a cosponsor and to encourage all of our colleagues to support this important legislation.

Why do we do this? Because, as has been mentioned, at 20 weeks' gestation, a baby is developed enough to live and grow outside the womb, and at 20 weeks, a baby can feel pain. Yet, in the United States, we remain one of only seven nations on the planet--including North Korea and China, I might add--that allows abortions after 20 weeks. It is a practice that kills thousands of innocent babies each year, as we know.
A law that allows someone to end the life of an unborn baby when that child can live outside the womb and feel the pain inflicted by this violent procedure is simply unconscionable. These procedures can be fatal not only for the child, by the way, but for the mother, as well, because abortion performed later in the pregnancy puts the mother at greater risk.

We have to pass this bill to ensure that America leads in the fight to protect the most vulnerable among us. All life is precious, and this bill protects the life of the mother and that of the unborn child. For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to stand with us in support of this important legislation and to join us in the efforts to defend the defenseless.

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