Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, before we vote on whether to proceed to H.R. 36, I want to respond to a couple of arguments made by a Democratic Senator yesterday.

First, that Democratic Senator quoted Hal Lawrence of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for the proposition that a 20-week fetus is not viable. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the group Dr. Lawrence represents, has long opposed this legislation.

According to the Senator I am confronting on this issue, Dr. Lawrence said the following on May 13, 2015:

In no way, shape or form is a 20-week fetus viable. There is no evidence anywhere of a 20-week fetus surviving, even with intensive medical care.

But as explained by the Washington Post Fact Checker of May 26 of this year, Dr. Lawrence's statement is simply incorrect when applied to H.R. 36. The bill uses a method of calculating fetal age that is based on the day that fertilization actually occurred. The legislation would protect the unborn beginning at 20 weeks after fertilization, which is the same as 22 weeks of pregnancy, also known as 22-week gestational age. Gestational age is a measure of calculating the unborn baby's age that relies on the date of the mother's last normal menstrual period.

It is well established that babies can survive at 22-week gestational age. As noted in the Washington Post, for example: ``That babies can survive at 22 weeks gestational age has been known for 15 years.''

Perhaps Dr. Lawrence was confused about what H.R. 36 would accomplish. The Washington Post Fact Checker article sets the record straight.

Second, the Senator I am referring to said earlier that abortions past 20-week fetal age are extraordinarily rare. Some jurisdictions with the most lax abortion policies don't even collect data on the stage of pregnancy when an abortion is performed, while other jurisdictions may have reporting requirements but are not really enforcing those reporting requirements. Because data on late-term abortions is not widely available, it is hard to know what hard evidence really exists to support the claim. We do know that several hundred doctors, and well over 200 facilities across the United States, offer abortions after 20 weeks of fetal age.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the Washington Post article I earlier referred to.

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Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield the floor.

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