Women's Health Protection Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the Honorable Representative Rodgers, for yielding me time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 8296. The Supreme Court recently took the important and correct step to return the power to regulate abortion back to State legislators and voters within the individual States while recognizing the sanctity of life.

This concept is so novel and repugnant to the Democrats that they would put forward a radical and extreme abortion bill that would permit abortion even up until birth for any reason. Only seven countries, including China and North Korea, are this extreme.

As a doctor, I am knowledgeable that mid- to late-term abortion is a barbaric procedure which can include dismemberment of the baby and crushing of the skull. This is far more cruel than many of the laws of States that define prisoner abuse of convicted felons and what constitutes animal cruelty. It is a procedure done when the mother is given anesthesia, but the baby can feel pain. Madam Speaker, even though you cannot hear it scream, it can respond to music and respond to touch and the voice of its mother.

We wouldn't allow animals to be treated this cruelly.

Do Democrats think that this elevates women and is compassionate?

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Charlotte Lozier Institute. [From the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Feb. 2014] Gestational Limits on Abortion in the United States Compared to International Norms (By Angelina Baglini, J.D.)

Abstract: The United States is one of only seven countries in the world that permit elective abortion past 20 weeks. Upholding laws restricting abortion on demand after 20 weeks would situate the United States closer to the international mainstream, instead of leaving it as an outlying country with ultra-permissive abortion policies.

This report compares gestational limits in United States abortion law with gestational limits in the abortion law of the international community. The goal is to determine where the United States stands in comparison to international norms, with its federal policy enshrined in Roe v. Wade, which allows abortion past 20 weeks and without restriction until fetal viability.

The sample group for this project included a total of 198 countries, independent states, and semi-autonomous regions with populations exceeding 1 million. Of these 198 countries, independent states, and regions worldwide, 59 allow abortion without restriction as to reason, otherwise known as elective abortion or abortion on demand. The remaining 139 countries require some reason to obtain an abortion ranging from most restrictive (to save the life of the mother or completely prohibited) to least restrictive (socioeconomic grounds) with various reasons in between (e.g., physical health, mental health).

Currently, the United States permits abortion on demand through viability, which is usually marked around 24 weeks. For this report, it is appropriate to compare the United States with the other 58 countries that allow abortion on demand up to some point in pregnancy. The remaining 139 countries require some reason to obtain an abortion (that is to say, they do not permit abortion on demand) and are, by definition, more restrictive than the United States on the issue of gestational limits. To require some reason before obtaining an abortion is inherently more restrictive than not requiring any reason at all.

This report finds that the United States is one of only seven countries in the world that permit elective abortion past 20 weeks. This finding suggests that current proposals in the United States to restrict elective abortions past 20 weeks would move the United States from the fringe, ultra- permissive end of the spectrum to a position closer to international norms. Terminology and Method of Comparison

Not all countries or statutes use the same terminology when drafting restrictions on late-term elective abortion. When drafting a restriction on elective abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy, the most common measurement of ``weeks of pregnancy'' is gestational age, or in short form ``gestation.'' Gestational age marks the duration of pregnancy, which is most commonly and medically measured from the date of the woman's last menstrual period. The woman's last menstrual period is the most identifiable date by which to measure the duration of pregnancy, and occurs approximately two weeks before conception or fertilization.

The vast majority of countries in this international survey of abortion laws use gestational age to measure duration of pregnancy. Over 80 percent of countries maintaining some restriction on elective abortion use gestational age as the method of calculating duration of pregnancy. However, a minority of countries measures duration of pregnancy from ``conception'' or ``fertilization.'' One country measures from the time of ``implantation,'' which occurs approximately one week after conception or fertilization. Some statutes do not even specify a method of measurement, simply using the vague term ``weeks of pregnancy'' without indicating a precise method measuring the duration of pregnancy.

Conception or fertilization is the moment when an ovum and sperm unite, which creates a unique human organism. The date of conception or fertilization is often difficult to determine, as few women know the exact date they conceived. Because the last menstrual period is a more ascertainable date, in many cases doctors add two weeks to the woman's last menstrual period to approximate the date of conception or fertilization.

This report uses gestation to compare restrictions based on duration of pregnancy. More than 80 percent of countries already use gestation in establishing duration of pregnancy restrictions on elective abortion and measuring the age of the unborn child using gestation is in line with common medical practice.

For those countries that use a different measurement of age, such as conception or fertilization or pregnancy, this study converts the measurement of age into gestation by adding two weeks to date back to the woman's last menstrual period. Using gestation as a common method of measuring duration of pregnancy restrictions on elective abortion produces a more meaningful comparison.

International Gestational Limitations on Elective Abortion

The sample group of countries for this project included a total of 198 countries, independent states, and semi- autonomous regions with populations exceeding 1 million.

Of these 198 countries, independent states, and regions worldwide, 59 allow abortion without restriction as to reason, otherwise known as elective abortion or abortion on demand.

The remaining 139 countries require some reason to obtain an abortion ranging from most restrictive (to save the life of the mother or completely prohibited) to least restrictive (socioeconomic grounds) with various reasons in between (e.g., physical health, mental health).

Of the 59 countries permitting elective abortion:

9 countries limit elective abortion before the 12th week of gestation,

36 countries limit elective abortion at 12 weeks gestation,

6 countries limit elective abortion between 12 and 20 weeks gestation,

7 countries permit elective abortion past 20 weeks or have no gestational limit.

1 country maintains a federal system where abortion policy is determined at the state/territory level, and at least two of those states permit elective abortion past 20 weeks

Australia is the one country where a federal system is in place, but abortion policy is determined on the state or territory level. Three states or territories within Australia permit elective abortion, and two allow elective abortion past 20 weeks. However, other states and territories of Australia maintain more restrictive abortion policies and some do not permit elective abortion at all. Due to the diverse range of abortion policy in Australia, from restrictive to ultra-permissive, this study does not include Australia, as a whole, as a country that permits elective abortion past 20 weeks.

More than 75 percent of the countries permitting abortion without restriction as to reason do not permit elective abortions past l2 weeks gestation.

Only 12 percent (7 out of 59) of the countries permitting abortion without restriction as to reason permit elective abortion past 20 weeks gestation.

The U.S. is among these 7 countries that permit elective abortion past 20 weeks. This is true whether 20 weeks is measured from the last menstrual period (gestational age), conception, or implantation. No matter how duration of pregnancy is measured, whether by gestational age or conception or fertilization, or implantation, all countries in this category pass the 20-week threshold. These countries/ territories are:

Canada (no restriction in law)

China (no restriction in law)

Netherlands (24 weeks)

North Korea (no restriction in law)

Singapore (24 weeks)

United States (viability)

Vietnam (no restriction in law)

The United States is within the top 4 of most permissive abortion policies in the world (7 out of 198) when analyzing restrictions on elective abortion based on duration of pregnancy. Implications for Current Policy in the United States

Under U.S. law, abortion on demand is permitted without restriction through viability. Viability can vary, and is decreasing in terms of weeks of gestation as perinatal medicine advances, but normally occurs no earlier than 24 weeks.

Recently, in the United States there has been great interest in restricting abortion on demand after 20 weeks. Two states have had 20-week laws on the books since before Roe v. Wade. Eleven more states have enacted 20-week laws in recent years. A proposed 20-week law in Albuquerque, New Mexico failed to gain majority support in 2013 but was notable for the engaged citizen activism that resulted in the proposal being put on a municipal ballot for a direct vote.

There is also interest at the federal level in restricting elective abortion after 20 weeks. In 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a 20-week law. A similar law has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.

Permitting abortion on demand past 20 weeks places the United States among the top 4 percent of most-permissive countries in the world based on duration of pregnancy restrictions on abortion. If the United States adopts a federal policy restricting elective abortion past 20 weeks, or if more states adopt such policies, the U.S. will more closely align itself with the international norm that limits elective abortion past 12 weeks. Policies imposing gestational limits on elective abortion have been overwhelmingly adopted by countries permitting abortion on demand, indicating policies that encourage woman's safety in limiting abortion to early pregnancy and policies that protect unborn children from pain and prolonged exposure to the risk of-abortion. Conclusions

In terms of gestational limits, the United States ranks among 7 countries with the most permissive abortion policies. The clear norm among countries that permit elective abortion is to limit abortion to before 20 weeks gestation, and elective abortion is more commonly limited to 12 weeks (the first trimester).

Twenty-week abortion laws in the United States are neither extreme nor unreasonable. Rather, they move the United States closer to international norms of legislating what is safe and healthy for the mother and what grants unborn children more protection in the womb.

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues on every seat in every aisle of this Chamber to vote against this extreme, radical, and cruel abortion bill, H.R. 8296.

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