Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Mitchell. Ladies and gentlemen, I asked these families to…”

“Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Mitchell. Ladies and gentlemen, I asked these families to come here today to make a point that I think every American needs to understand about this bill. This is not about the pro-choice/pro-life debate. This is not a bill that ever should have been injected into that. This terrible problem affects a few hundred Americans every year who desperately want their children, are trying to build families, and are trying to strengthen their families. And they should not become pawns in a larger debate, even though it is a serious and legitimate debate of profound significance. I hope that we can continue to reduce the number of abortions in America. When I was Governor I signed a bill to restrict late-term abortions, consistent with the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, only cases where the life or health of the mother is at risk. When I asked the supporters of the bill here to try to take account of this, they said, ``Well, if we have a health exception you know you could--the doctor and the mother could say anything--they can't fit in their prom dress, that's a health exception--some terrible things like that.'' And I said, ``No, no, no, I will accept language that says serious adverse health consequences to the mother--those three words. Everyone in the world will know what we're talking about. We're talking about these families.'' I implored them. I said, ``If you want to pass something on this procedure, let's make an exception for life and serious adverse health consequences so that we don't put these women in a position and these families in a position where they will lose all possibility of future childbearing, or where the doctor can't say that they might die, but they could clearly be substantially injured forever.'' And my pleas fell on deaf ears. The emotional power of the description of the procedure--which I might add did not cover the procedure these women had and did not cover all the procedures banned by the law--but the emo- tional power was so great that my plea just to take a decent account of these hundreds of families every year that are in this position fell on deaf ears. And therefore, I had no choice but to veto the bill. I vetoed it just a few minutes ago before I met with these families. I will say again, if the Congress really wants to act out of a sincere concern that some of these things are done, which are wrong, in casual ways, then if they will meet my standards to protect these families, they could pass a bill that I would sign tomorrow. But these people have no business being made into political pawns. As I said, and as they said, they never had a choice. This affects staunchly pro-life families as well as people that are pro-choice. They never had a choice. And I cannot in good conscience see their lives damaged and their potential to build good, strong families damaged. We need more families in America like these folks. We need more parents in America like these folks. They are what America needs more of. And just because they happen to be in a tiny minority to bear a unique burden that God imposes on just a few people every year, we can't forget our obligation to protect their lives, their children, and their families' future. That is what this veto is all about. And let me say again how profoundly grateful I am to them for coming here today and having the courage to tell their stories to the American people. Thank you. Thank you all very much.”