Women's Health Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I also rise to speak about the need to pass the Women's Health Protection Act. Certainly, the Senator from Maryland outlined a very strong argument as to why this fundamental protection, this fundamental right, needs to be protected.

We know right now that we may see the Supreme Court come out with a decision to basically end Roe v. Wade and, in the process, end a fundamental right that women in this country have had available to them for 50 years.

We can hear all the arguments--and my colleagues will present an awful lot of arguments tonight and tomorrow--as to why we need to pass this act, but for me, this is personal, a personal experience that I had, and it is an experience that, unfortunately, many, many families have had. The fact is, as I have shared this story, I have been really overwhelmed by people reaching out to me and saying that they, too, have a very similar story and how my talking about it brought out their willingness to share their experience as well. In addition to that, they understand how important it is that we protect Roe v. Wade and we protect the right for women to make critical decisions for themselves, along with their doctor, and not have politics interfere with those decisions.

My story involves my first wife. When we were married, she was pregnant with a child whom we very much wanted. We were looking forward to having a second child. In the fourth month, towards the end of the fourth month, her water broke--clearly a very dangerous situation.

She went to go see her physician. Her physician examined her and said: With this water breaking, the amniotic fluid has now left the uterus. There is no way a baby can survive in this situation.

They examined her. There was a very faint heartbeat.

He said: There is a faint heartbeat here, but there is no way this baby can survive.

He said: What I think will happen is you are going to have a miscarriage. So go home tonight, and you will have a miscarriage, and come in and see me tomorrow.

Well, you can imagine the anguish, the horrible evening, and the despair that she was in and I was in. It was a long, long night.

The next morning, nothing happened. She went back to the physician-- we went back to the physician. He examined her again and said: I am really surprised. I don't know why you didn't miscarry because it is clear that there is no way this baby can survive in this situation. The amniotic fluid is gone; the cushion is gone.

He said: I don't think I can do anything because there is still a faint heartbeat here. I don't know why there is still a faint heartbeat. So go home again tonight. I think tonight is going to be the night you have a miscarriage.

We went back again. It didn't happen--another horrible night-- horrible. The mental anguish is intense, and families who have gone through this know exactly what I am talking about.

We went the next day, and, again, he examined her. He said: I can't understand this, but this is going on. I am really worried that there is going to be an infection here. There isn't the protection there. You could go into septic shock. Your health is definitely endangered here. The baby can't survive. Without the amniotic fluid, the cushion, the baby could lose its limbs.

There were horrible, horrible, nightmarish kinds of thoughts in our minds.

He said: I am going to go to the hospital, and I am going to say, even though there is a faint heartbeat, this is a medical necessity, that we have to do a D&C abortion here to protect your health and potentially your life if we don't take care of this. So I will go to the hospital. Go home, and I will call you and let you know when I can bring you in.

Well, he called. I will never forget the voicemail that was left. He said: I am really sorry to say this. I went to the hospital board. I explained the medical necessity here, what you are going through, how we have to take care of this because it could clearly be a serious situation if you go into septic shock.

And the board said: No. As long as there is a faint heartbeat, you can't perform the procedure.

Then he said: There is no reason for this decision from the hospital board. It is not based on sound medicine. It is not based on medical practice. It is not based on what is best for your health. This is based on politics. Plain and simple, this is politics.

He goes: I am ashamed that this happened, and I am embarrassed I have to call you and tell you I can't do it because the hospital will not grant me privileges to do it.

He said: My advice to you is find a doctor now, immediately, that can take care of this procedure.

Well, you can imagine how scary that is, how frightening that is; and who do we call in that situation? We were fortunate in the fact that we had a friend who was a hospital administrator at another hospital. He got us in to see the gynecologist, OB-GYN at the hospital to examine her. We went there.

He examined her and said: Oh, my gosh, I have to do this procedure now. There is no more time. This is getting incredibly dangerous. We have to do the D&C abortion.

He said: You are about to go--the infection is starting. It is going to get worse. If I don't do this quickly, you are going to lose your uterus. If we don't deal with it quickly, you could very well lose your life with the infection that could occur here.

He immediately performed the procedure.

Just think of that. One, if we didn't have the opportunity to see another doctor who was able to perform it and understood the severity of it, my wife at the time, former wife, could have easily lost a uterus, could have had significant health impacts, and could have lost her life.

It just kept ringing in my mind what that doctor said: This is about politics. This is not about good medical practice. This is not about caring about someone's health and caring about their life; it was about politics. And that is why we have to protect Roe v. Wade.

We have to protect the right for women to control their bodies, to control their reproductive health. It cannot be a decision made by politicians here in this body or other places. This is a real situation that families face. As I mentioned, there was an outpouring of folks who have come to me who had similar situations.

I think about Michigan right now. Michigan has a law on the books that was written in 1931 that says all abortion is prohibited in our State. It doesn't matter whether or not it involves the health of the mother, it doesn't matter if it is the life of the mother, it doesn't matter if a woman is the victim of rape or incest--it is just simply not allowed. I think that is unconscionable. That is what will happen. It is a real-life situation that could happen if the Court decides to go forward and reverse Roe v. Wade. Situations like what my former wife went through and families all across America would not be able to have that kind of option.

If you think about the no exception for rape or incest, you will have a 17-year-old girl in Michigan who is raped. She will have no options. I know a majority of people in the United States believe that is unacceptable. I know a majority of people in the United States believe that women have the right to make these most personal, these most intimate decisions themselves, with the advice of their physician or whoever else that they want to consult.

This is not about politics. This is not about the opinions of folks who think that they know better. Let's preserve the right of women to do what they think is best.

That is why we have to pass the Women's Health Protection Act and why I would urge all my colleagues to search their heart and listen to the stories that people will tell them and understand that the right thing to do is to protect reproductive freedoms and rights in America.

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