Roe V. Wade

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for his comments and for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, one of my friends now for quite a long time has been the niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King. Alveda King is her name. Dr. King used to be pro-choice. Very strongly so. She actually had two abortions. Then she became pro-life. And she has become passionately pro-life not just for the babies, but maybe even more so for the women.

She has said:

How can the dream of my uncle, Martin Luther King, survive if we murder the children?

She speaks and reaches out to women who are post-abortive with such compassion, as do so many organizations and women; to women who have the abortions, to help them, to love them, and to care for them.

Alveda King is an example to be followed. Like her uncle and his bold and tremendous civil rights leadership, she argues--again, she is the niece of Dr. King--that this is the new civil rights movement and we need to protect and provide legal protection for these innocent unborn babies.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin). Dr. Brian Babin is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Dr. Babin is the sponsor of H.R. 28, Protecting Life in Crisis Act.

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for his leadership on that bill and his leadership on the issue of protecting defenseless lives for many years.

Madam Speaker, some Members are making their way over from our caucus, but I just want to say a couple of points before closing.

Years ago, a friend of mine by the name of Jean Garton, who was the head of Lutherans For Life, was preparing a speech, a lecture. In that lecture, she had a few slides of unborn children, just beautiful slides of that life before birth. But she also had a couple of slides that spoke truth to power. It was of what the abortion actually looks like, mangled bodies, dismembered children.

While she was preparing that talk, it was late into the evening. One of the children walked in, and out of the mouth of babes comes truth. That child said: Mommy, who broke the baby?

Abortion breaks babies. It hurts women, and we need a reappraisal in this Congress, in legislatures, where they are not supportive of the right to life.

As I said earlier, we will look back someday and say: How could we have allowed it, particularly in the age of ultrasound, where we speak so often of the importance of science?

Babies need help, growth, nutrition, and they certainly need protection legally from this assault on their lives.

Again, I thank my colleagues for participating. I have a number of Members who are submitting statements in the Record.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert) for that very passionate defense of life and the passionate and beautiful story of life.

Madam Speaker, we know that Dr. John Joyce is on his way. Congressman Joyce should be here momentarily.

Madam Speaker, I just want to point out one final thing. I just want to point out to my colleagues that we know that this is a difficult time for the pro-life movement in this Chamber. I have been here when we have had majorities and when we have had minorities. Based on what we think are the votes, we probably are in the minority right now. But I have to tell you, Madam Speaker, that any victory that results in more child deaths is a Pyrrhic victory. It is no victory at all. These children deserve our respect and our love, and the mothers as well, not the violence of abortion.

I would point out, too, that we do face these enormous challenges. I have been in the movement for 48 years. So I can say this with some sense of knowing the people who make up the pro-life movement. We love those who disagree with us. We respect even those with whom we fundamentally disagree, even when it is not reciprocated.

It is all about respect from womb to tomb and for each other. So as the debates heat up and as we go through this session of Congress, we will, with respect, hear you. We disagree fundamentally because we do believe that it is a truth and a fact that these children are deserving of respect. So I want you to know, Madam Speaker, this will be a very rough couple of years for the pro-life movement in this House.

It has happened before. I was here when Bill Clinton had majorities in both Houses and when Barack Obama had majorities in both Houses. But we will persevere and we will never quit because these children's lives are worth it.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), who is a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Education and Labor Committee.

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