The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act today, and in remarks about the legislation Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said many lawmakers and the “American media” will misrepresent the bill using “freedom of choice” language but, he asked, “what is so liberating about brutally and painfully dismembering living, helpless, little human babies?”
On the House floor on Monday, Rep. Franks, who sponsored H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, explained in detail how many mid- and late-term babies are aborted and their body parts are soldto researchers. He cited instances where some babies are born alive and then allowed to die so their heart, liver, kidneys, eyes, and brains can be harvested and then sold.
Human fetal tissue and internal body organs are in demand by university researchers, and they acquire the tissue from abortion facilties such as those operated by Planned Parenthood, a not-for-profit organization subsidized by the federal government.
As the New York Times reported in 2015, “The National Institutes of Health spent $76 million on research using fetal tissue in 2014 with grants to more than 50 universities, including Columbia, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, Yale and the University of California in Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. It expects to spend the same amount in 2015 and 2016.”
Baby at 20 weeks and 5 days. (becuo.com)
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would prohibit abortion at 20 weeks or greater in a pregnancy. Exceptions are allowed: To save the life of the mother who is physically endangered by the pregnancy; when the pregnancy of an adult woman is caused by rape and she obtains counseling or treatment 48 hours before the abortion; and when the pregnancy of a minor is caused by rape or incest and the crime is reported to law enforcement prior to the abortion.
Also, if during those abortion exceptions the baby is born alive, doctors/paramedics must be on hand to administer medical assistance to the child.
In his House floor remarks, Rep. Franks said, “For God’s sake, Mr. Speaker, this cannot be who we truly are! The fact is that more than 18,000 late-term, pain-capable unborn babies were torturously killed without anesthesia in America in just the last year.”
“Many of them cried and screamed as they died, but because it was amniotic fluid going over their vocal cords instead of air, we couldn’t hear them,” said Franks. “It is the worst human rights atrocity in the history of the United States of America.”
“Now I know that many of those on this floor and the American media will hold to the standard line and try to cloak all of this in the name of freedom of choice,” said the congressman, “but I beg you to open your own hearts and ask yourselves what is so liberating about brutally and painfully dismembering living, helpless little human babies?”
“In spite of all the political noise, protecting these helpless little pain-capable unborn children and their mothers is not a Republican issue, or a Democrat issue, it is a test of our basic humanity and who we are as human family,” said Rep. Franks.
He continued, “Mr. Speaker, the sands of time should blow over the Capitol Dome before we ever give Planned Parenthood one more dime of taxpayer’s money. And in the name of humanity, Democrat Senators should not be allowed to filibuster The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the U.S. Senate, because passing it would prevent the vast majority of these ongoing evil acts of torture against helpless, little pain-capable human babies that these [investigative] videos have now shown so clearly to the entire world.”
Rep. Franks’ legislation has 187 co-sponsors and is expected to pass in the House. However, it will be a tougher fight in the Senate where Republicans hold 52 seats and the Democrats 48. The Democrats might also try to filibuster the bill. (The legislation passed the House in 2013 and 2015 but went nowhere in the Senate.)
On Monday, the White House issued a statement in support of the legislation. “The bill, if enacted into law, would help to facilitate the culture of life to which our nation aspires,” said the White House. “Additionally, the bill would promote a science-based approach to unborn life, as recent advancements have revealed that the physical structures necessary to experience pain are developed within 20 weeks of fertilization.”
Donald Trump and Mike Pence on the campaign trail in 2016. (Screenshot: fox8.com)
