Asa Hutchinson: “Now we have the Daschle amendment before us. The facts have not changed. I think many are beginning to see the truth on…”

“Now we have the Daschle amendment before us. The facts have not changed. I think many are beginning to see the truth on this issue, the truth behind the partial-birth abortion myth. The next myth that we have to overcome in this debate is that the President and his congressional allies have a viable alternative to the partial-birth abortion ban, that this amendment that we are debating even now is a legitimate alternative to a ban on partial-birth abortions. Well, that is a myth. George Will said, ``It is a law that's impossible to violate.'' He is right. It is an amendment that pro-abortion allies can support so they can tell their constituents they supported a ban, I believe. And, again, I hope that this will be introduced as a freestanding bill because I think in that situation, we will be able to see exactly where the flaws are as it is debated in a committee, as it is scrutinized. The Daschle proposal would explicitly allow abortion even in the third trimester if an abortionist simply asserts that ``continuation of the pregnancy would risk grievous injury to the mother.'' That is all he has to say. That's all the abortionist has to say. In effect, the Daschle amendment would allow partial-birth abortions on demand in the fifth and sixth months of the baby's development when the vast majority of such abortions are performed.”