March for Life

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand with the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are traveling to Washington for the 46th annual March for Life.

Fighting for the rights of the most vulnerable Americans has been my most precious responsibility since long before I was elected to Congress. Most notably, I can remember marching to defend our unborn children when I was pregnant with my son Stephen in January of 1990. Last year, I was proud to march just days after my first granddaughter, Isabella Marie, was born. This Friday, the day of the March, we will celebrate Isabella's first birthday.

Again and again, I am reminded that life is beautiful, that children are a blessing, and that we must do all we can to support our Nation's mothers.

Though now we have a divided Congress, there is still so much we can do to lift up women and children. This month, my colleagues and I called on President Trump to veto any legislation that weakens Federal policies against abortion.

We are fortunate that the administration is taking action to protect life. The President has reinstated President Reagan's title 10 protect life rule, so that our tax dollars don't fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and others. This is widely popular policy.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, new public polling shows that millennials prefer that their tax dollars go to federally qualified health centers rather than abortion providers like Planned Parenthood by a 3-1 margin. Only 7 percent of millennials share the position of the Democratic Party platform that abortion should be available without any exceptions and funded by your tax dollars.

The administration is heeding the concerns of the American people. Just last month, the National Institutes of Health announced it will fund up to $20 million to find alternatives to using human fetal tissue in research projects. The U.S. Government should end all contracts that use baby body parts. We must preserve the integrity in scientific research by protecting pregnant women and their children.

This month, I am introducing two bills to defend life. The first is the Born Alive Act, which will require all healthcare providers to give babies who survive abortions the same level of care as other newborns and to ensure that they are immediately admitted to a hospital. The illegal fetal tissue trafficking industry profits most from abortions that increase the likelihood of a live birth. Congress must provide born-alive infants with lifesaving care, not exploit, kill, and sell them to the highest bidder.

I am also introducing the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, or PRENDA, which will prohibit sex-selection abortions or forcing a woman to obtain a sex-selection abortion. The sad truth is that victims of sex- selected abortions are overwhelmingly female. It is estimated that 117 million girls are demographically missing from around the world due to sex-selection abortions, infanticide, and other forms of gender-based violence.

Girls are targeted for abortions not only in countries like China and India, but right here in the United States. These abortions victimize both mother and daughter and have no place in a just society.

Mr. Speaker, there is so much bipartisan work we can do to protect America's mothers and babies, and I hope we can act together to serve and protect all God's children.

I thank all of those who will march for life this week. I stand with them, and I will continue to fight and pray for the day when abortion is not only illegal but is unthinkable.

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