Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time.
I appreciate the good feelings and earnest arguments made by the gentlewoman from Tennessee and the gentleman from Arizona, but the fact is this bill is patently unconstitutional because this bill is not about viability; it is a subterfuge for viability and talks about the issue of pain. Pain is not the issue; viability is the issue.
What the real issue is, politicians are not medical experts, and women should make these decisions based upon information from people they trust. Women should make these decisions based upon information from people they trust.
The information given about this bill is limited, and the fact is Dr. Anand, who was cited by my friend, the chairman of the committee, is from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, where I am from.
The fact is Dr. Anand, if he had gone further, since 2005, has turned down requests to testify in regard to this type of legislation because he doesn't think that his studies have been used properly. Abortion is not the focus, and the politicization of his work has gotten completely out of hand.
The fact is there are polls that say one thing and polls that say another. The poll that I respect most shows it to be about an even one-third split on support, opposition, and indecision.
This isn't about polls; this is supposed to be about the Constitution and upholding Roe v. Wade and medical
experts and not politicians making decisions that are poll-driven and possibly favorable to their own constituencies.
The exceptions for incest are the most egregious. If a woman is pregnant because of incest, under this law, if the lady is under 18 years of age, there is one rule; but, if she is 18 years of age or older, there is another rule.
What it says is, if you are 18 or over and you are pregnant as a result of incest, then you cannot get an abortion--you cannot--but, if you are under 18, you can if you report it to the law enforcement authorities.
In the discussion last night at Rules Committee, the vice chair of Rules Committee errantly compared rape and incest. Incest does not necessarily involve rape. It involves intercourse between parties that are not legally supposed to have intercourse and issues which could result in problems for the child.
Incest should always be an exception, and the life and health of the mother should always be an exception, and the health exceptions are limited to physical and not mental and emotional, which are the most pressing for women. There is also a 48-hour waiting period in this bill.
This bill is unconstitutional and wrong. We should respect medical experts and not politicians and women to make decisions with people they trust.
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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to make note that we have the American College of Nurse-Midwives; the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the American Medical Student Association; the American Medical Women's Association; the American Nurses Association; the American Psychological Association; and many, many others against this bill. I would like to hear on the other side some of the medical groups that are supportive of this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. COHEN. I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, if people, I think, listen to this debate, they would see one thing clearly in that there is a difference on the two sides--a difference in perspective and a difference as to the facts.
Some say that, clearly, the fetus feels pain. My data shows that the majority of medical opinion says that the fetus does not; and Dr. Anand, whom they cite--my research shows--has retracted his position and doesn't want to be involved in this debate, and he is an outlier.
The bottom line is there are differences--differences as to the facts as well as to the opinions. What that should say to anybody who watches this debate, Madam Speaker, is this issue shouldn't be decided by politicians but by medical experts and by women with the people they trust--medical experts, not politicians--and by women with the advice of the people they trust.
The truth of this debate came down to a lady from North Carolina who testified contrary to what she said in January. In January, she said the bill that came before this House was not a good bill and that it shouldn't come to the House. It was withdrawn because incest is incest, and it shouldn't be seen that people 18 and over couldn't get an abortion if they were victims of incest. This bill allows it. She has changed her position, and at the close of her statement, she said: I will not rest until abortion is illegal.
That is what this is about. It is the beginning of the end of abortion at 20 weeks, at 17 weeks, at 12 weeks, at 1 week, at conception. This is an antiabortion bill. It is not about fetal pain. It is not about 20 weeks. That is what it is about. American women need to wake up.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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