U.S. House Members Speak Out for Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion

Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC): "I must say, as a mother and a grandmother, it is astonishing to me that this horrible practice is even remotely legal in America today. . . . Partial-birth abortion is the procedure where a pregnant woman's cervix is forcibly dilated over a 3-day period. On the third day, her child is pulled, feet first, through the birth canal until his or her entire body, except for the head, is outside the womb. The head is held inside the womb by the woman's cervix, and while the fetus is stuck in this position, dangling partly out of the woman's body and just a few inches from a completed birth, the abortionist inserts scissors into the base of the baby's skull, and the scissors are opened, creating a hole in the baby's head. The skull is either then crushed with instruments or a suction catheter is inserted into the hole and the baby's brain is suctioned out. Since the head is now small enough to slip through the mother's cervix, the now lifeless body is pulled the rest of the way out of its mother and the baby's corpse is discarded, usually as medical waste."

Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-Mn.), who organized a special series of speeches on the House floor the night before the House took up the bill: "I had a young nephew who was born at less than two pounds. Sadly, 3,000 to 5,000 young children a year - - many of them bigger than my nephew when he was born - - die through partial-birth abortion, and it is time that we end this. It is deplorable that a country like ours which was founded on the respect for life has continued to allow this terrible practice."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-In.): "I am mindful of that Bible verse that whatsoever you do for the least of these, you do for me, the Lord tells us. And I submit what we will do in this Congress tomorrow, banning this barbaric procedure known as partial-birth abortion, is the least we can do for the least of these."

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.): "Some of my colleagues who support partial-birth abortion are the first ones to rightly advocate the prohibition of cruelty against others or even against helpless animals. But how can some cringe in horror when an animal is tortured, yet they do not think twice about the unspeakable suffering of an innocent baby being killed through this so-called medical procedure?"

Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wi.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee: "Implicitly approving such a brutal and inhumane procedure by choosing not to prohibit it will further coarsen society to the humanity of not only newborns but all vulnerable and innocent human life."

Congressman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Values Action Team: "This type of abortion, partial-birth abortion, is more like a legal technicality. The baby must be delivered feet-first so that the doctor actually forces the head to stay in the birth canal. Otherwise, he would be born and actually breathe. Most people would call this murder. But right now, it is just a technicality. There is no excuse for this procedure in a civilized nation."