Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for leading and for all of her courageous leadership on this important issue.

Madam Speaker, I have to say, we have been stunned here in the last hour of this debate by a lot of what we have heard, not the least of which is when one of our Democrat colleagues actually exclaimed on this floor in the last hour: ``Thank God abortion is still legal.''

I just sat here and said wow. Thank God? Thank God for what? That innocent, unborn children can still be killed in many States? Thank God?

The other side in this debate has not only abandoned reverence, all reverence, all morality, all reason, but they defied medical technology.

They have also completely abandoned the first self-evident truth boldly proclaimed in our Nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal--not born equal--created equal by God, and it is He who gives our inalienable rights, beginning, obviously, with the right to life.

I mean, seriously, please don't come on this floor and thank our creator for your zeal to terminate the innocent lives that He has created. God have mercy on us.

Madam Speaker, today, the Democrats have brought two bills to this floor. The first is a complete overhaul of all pro-life protections, which will allow for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand through all three trimesters of pregnancy.

The second bill, the so-called Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, creates an open door for women to be preyed upon by traffickers and does nothing to protect minors who are transported by predators across State lines to obtain abortions.

In order to prohibit these heinous acts, I introduced the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which, by the way, I should note, passed this House by a wide margin in 2005 in the 109th Congress. How far the other side has devolved since then. Because of that, now more than ever, we have to highlight why this bill is so important in protecting the lives of minors and their unborn children.

The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act will help cut down on predators and traffickers taking advantage of minors by making it a crime to knowingly transport a minor across State lines to obtain an abortion without first satisfying State-level parental involvement laws.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, it is simple. A parent should be involved in the life of their child, and State laws should never be circumvented to benefit those seeking to take advantage of minors.

When a State says a guardian or parent should be notified that their minor is seeking an abortion, that law ought to be respected and followed. Our States' parental involvement laws are well-written and reasonable, and there are exceptions built into the statutes for extreme circumstances.

We also know that forced coercion to abort an unborn child is real, and it must be addressed. Predators, traffickers, and their accomplices must be held accountable for the damage they have done to minors.

I am so glad that our side is offering tangible solutions to real problems; but it is unfortunate that it is in response to such terrible pieces of legislation that only further endanger the lives of minors and their unborn children.

I urge opposition to the other side's callous and barbaric agenda and their bill, and I support our motion to recommit.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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