Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 36. Let's call this bill what it is--it is a late-term abortion ban. That is what it is, and a majority of Americans agree, Madam Speaker, that late-term abortions should be illegal in this country.

Whether it is unconstitutional is not up for this body to determine. I believe the Supreme Court will rule that this is constitutional because there is a reason a majority of Americans believe that late-term abortions should be illegal--because that baby is developed at 20 weeks postfertilization, developed enough to perceive pain. That is how developed. It is developed enough to survive outside the womb. That is how developed. That is why a majority of Americans believe that that baby has rights as well. That is what we are here to do today. H.R. 36 preserves the rights of that baby to survive.

I practiced OB anesthesia for over 20 years. I was always amazed that, in the labor and delivery suite, we would deliver 21-week postfertilization babies and that, down the corridor, they would abort them. This bill says that, if that baby being aborted is born alive, someone is going to actually resuscitate that baby. That is what we need, Madam Speaker. That is why I support H.R. 36.

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