Abortion

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, today, every Senator will be able to take a clear moral stand. We will have the chance to proceed to commonsense legislation that will move our Nation closer to the international mainstream with respect to defending innocent human life. There are only seven nations left in the entire world where an unborn child can be killed by elective abortion after 20 weeks, and the United States of America, unfortunately, is one of them.

Set aside all of the far-left rhetoric that will greet Senator Graham's straightforward legislation and consider this simple fact: Do our Democratic colleagues really believe that what our country needs is a radical fringe position on elective abortion that we only share with China, North Korea, and four other countries in the entire world?

The American people don't seem to think that is what we need. One recent survey found that 70 percent of all Americans believe that at a minimum--at a minimum--elective abortion should be limited to the first 3 months of pregnancy. That even includes about half of the respondents who self-identify as pro-choice.

I hope this body will proceed to Senator Graham's Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act later today. I see no reason why at the very least our Democratic colleagues should vote against even proceeding to this legislation and having a debate. If there is a persuasive and principled case why America should remain on the radical international fringe on this subject, let us hear it. Let us have the debate. Few Americans agree with that radical position, but let's have the debate.

If my Democratic colleagues block the Senate from even proceeding to consider this legislation here today, the message they will send will be chilling and clear. The radical demands of the far left will drown out common sense and the views of most Americans.

The same goes for Senator Sasse's legislation, the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act. Even if most Washington Democrats persist in their resistance to any commonsense protections for the unborn, surely, we must be able to agree that children who are born deserve protection. Surely, that much cannot be controversial.

There is currently no Federal mandate that children who are delivered alive following an attempted abortion should receive medical care. There is no clear guarantee that every child born alive in the United States, whether they were intended to be or not, is entitled to the same life-giving medical attention.

The Kentuckians whom I speak with cannot comprehend why this could be some hotly debated proposition. It almost defies belief that an entire political party can find cause to object to this basic protection for babies. Yet, today, we will see if our Democratic colleagues will even permit the Senate to proceed to this legislation. We will see whether even something this simple and this morally straightforward is a bridge too far for the far left.

I would urge all of my colleagues: Let's advance these bills. Let's take these modest steps. Let's have the courage to say that the right to life must not exclude the most vulnerable among us.

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