Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, tomorrow this Chamber will vote on something called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation I have cosponsored, that would recognize that a women has a legal right to have an abortion up to the point of 5 months' gestation; that is, after 5 months' gestation, an unborn child is beginning to grow hair on their head, their fingernails are growing.

By this time in development, mothers are beginning to feel the baby kicking and moving for the very first time. In other words, this is the point at which the child literally becomes viable, becomes a human being, capable of life outside of the mother. Obviously, a typical period of pregnancy is 40 weeks. So obviously we hope that in most cases a child will remain in the womb until it is fully developed. But the fact is, talk to any neonatologist, talk to any physician, they will tell you that at a point around 20 weeks, certainly 5 months of gestation, you have no longer a child dependent upon their mother for life but somebody who can actually live independently.

Indeed, as many of us have done, go into some of these nurseries, where they have literally babies who weigh 1 pound or less, and see what medical science is able to do to actually save the lives of these premature babies--in a way that will allow them to grow up and be healthy and productive. It is nothing less than a medical miracle.

But at 20 weeks of gestation, which is 5 months, an unborn child is without a doubt a life--a life worth defending and worth protecting. This is something that is commonly accepted around the world. I don't know how many people realize that actually this legislation would bring the United States in line with the developed countries around the world. As a matter of fact, the United States is just one of seven countries worldwide that permit access to an elective abortion after 5 months of gestation, and we are in some pretty tough company. Right now we are in company with China, Vietnam, and North Korea. The United States, China, Vietnam, and North Korea basically permit an abortion up until the time a child is born naturally.

This bill is also important because it would significantly curtail the horrifying practices depicted in the videos we have seen of Planned Parenthood's operations over the summer. I am surprised to see in the press that only about 49 percent of the American people have actually seen these videos because they are so horrific, but I think they are also shocking. And perhaps it is that people would just rather turn their gaze and look away rather than see the barbaric practices depicted in these videos. But indeed these videos show Planned Parenthood executives callously discussing the value of an unborn child's organs, and it is truly morally reprehensible. I think, unfortunately, it reveals a dark side of humanity--one that prizes the organs of an unborn child over the potential life that child could have. And I have asked myself: How did we get here? How did we become so desensitized to this practice? And if there is anything these videos have done, hopefully it is to awaken the conscience of the American people as well as the Members of Congress to realize exactly what is going on and to conduct the investigations that are now underway by four committees of this Congress and to do what we can, such as passing this Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. It would make out of bounds the sort of late-term abortions that apparently this sort of enterprise depicted in the video depends upon.

This legislation is a unique and powerful opportunity for us to act and defend the lives of unborn children across this country. It is the best chance we have to advance a culture of life in this country. I am not suggesting that it is going to be easy or that we will have this vote and we will be finished. We will not be. I remember the long road to passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act over a decade ago, and I think the distinguished majority leader, who has set this matter for a vote, recognizes that this is the beginning of raising the visibility of this horrific practice and asking the American people whether they are comfortable with the sort of conduct they see depicted on these videos or whether we ought to think again about whether we want to be part of a coalition of China, Vietnam, and North Korea when it comes to sanctioning these late-term abortions after a baby has literally become viable in the womb.

If this bill becomes the law of the land, it will be the first time Congress has significantly and meaningfully advanced the pro-life agenda in over a decade. It took a long time for us to get the passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act over a decade ago. And I don't think we should underestimate the difficulty of passing this legislation and other pro-life legislation, but we need to start. These videos have given us the opportunity because they have awakened America's conscience.

This legislation, if passed, would save the lives of thousands of unborn children and make impossible the sort of organ-harvesting practice that we have seen on fully developed, unborn babies that we have seen depicted in these videos.

Tomorrow the Senate will have a unique opportunity to stand up for the most vulnerable, and if we are not here to stand for those who cannot speak for themselves, the most vulnerable in our society, not the least of whom are the unborn, what are we here for? I hope my Senate colleagues will vote to advance this legislation and in doing so vote to invoke a life of culture in this country.

Moving this bill forward should be seen as a moral imperative by every Member of the Chamber. We can unite behind an understanding of obvious right and wrong and save thousands of lives by making the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act a reality.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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