MARCH FOR LIFE
Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 15
(Senate - January 24, 2023) PDF
Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Mr. President, this past Friday, tens of thousands
of pro-life Americans came to Washington, DC, to march for the 50th
consecutive year to be a voice for the voiceless. They marched because
the pro-life movement did not end with the overturning of Roe v. Wade
last summer. They marched because the end of Roe v. Wade represents a
new beginning.
Thanks to the Supreme Court's decision in Mississippi's Dobbs case,
for the first time in 50 years, the fate of the lives of millions of
unborn children now rests not in the hands of unelected Federal judges
but in the American people and their elected representatives.
I am grateful for the more than a dozen States that have answered the
call, including my State of Mississippi, where babies in the womb are
now legally protected even at their earliest and most vulnerable
stages. But the fight for life also continues here in our Nation's
Capital and here in the U.S. Senate. That is why it makes sense that,
this year, the March for Life's route ended not at the U.S. Supreme
Court, as in years past, but here in Congress.
As the chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, I am committed to
fight for compassionate legislation to protect unborn children and
their mothers. We will be a firewall against the radical abortion
agenda of Senate Democrats and hold the Biden administration
accountable for its reckless and illegal pro-abortion policies.
The contrast could not be clearer. Last week, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed legislation that would guarantee the same basic
medical care to babies who are born alive after an attempted abortion
as would be given to any other baby born in any other circumstance. I
am appalled that 210 House Democrats voted against this humane
legislation. Apparently, even infanticide is no longer a bridge too
far.
In addition, this month, the Biden administration's FDA rubberstamped
the reckless distribution of chemical abortion drugs by mail and
telemedicine, as well as retail pharmacies, without ever seeing a
doctor in person. This decision turns retail pharmacies and post
offices into abortion clinics.
The FDA's action provides no safeguards to screen by ultrasound for
dangerous ectopic pregnancies and abandons pregnant women to suffering
life-threatening complications alone. These can include severe
bleeding, infection, potential surgical intervention, and even death.
The FDA's promotion of dangerous do-it-yourself abortions is not only
unsafe, it is illegal. Specifically, the decision violates longstanding
Federal criminal laws that clearly prohibit the mailing of abortion
drugs. This decision puts the profits and political agenda of the
abortion industry over the science and clear evidence that abortion
drugs present grave dangers to pregnant mothers and certainly their
unborn babies.
Later this week, I will introduce the SAVE Moms and Babies Act to
reverse the FDA's reckless and illegal action and, at minimum, restore
the basic health and safety requirement for these dangerous abortion
drugs, which should never have been approved.
The issue of abortion gets to the heart about what it means to be
human. Who counts as one of us? Why can brutally killing a baby before
birth be justified simply because the baby is inconvenient, imperfect,
unwanted, unplanned, or dependent on her mother?
Rather than answer these questions about the humanity of the child in
the womb--the child sucking her thumb, the child whose heart is
beating, and the child whose sonogram pictures are cherished as proof
of life--the abortion industry wants you to look away from the baby.
Over the past year, we have witnessed millions of dollars of
political advertisement spent to promote lies and fearmongering about
the pro-life movement and pro-life laws and that try to pit unborn
children against their own mothers.
As a mother, a woman, and a Senator, I know we must refute these
lies, because each unborn child is not a threat but a blessing, a
unique and unrepeatable individual created in the image of God.
In addition, the pro-life movement cares for both pregnant moms and
their unborn babies. More than 2,700 pregnancy centers across the
country provide critical medical and material support for women and
families facing unplanned pregnancies. Several of my colleagues have
already introduced commonsense measures to support pregnant moms and
families, including through pregnancy centers.
As we move on from this year's March for Life and into a post-Roe
era, we will never rest and we will never stop fighting until every
unborn child is protected under our laws from the lethal violence of
abortion.
I yield the floor.