Barbara Boxer: “I thank the Chair. This is Coreen Costello. She is a registered Republican. She describes herself as very conservative.…”

“I thank the Chair. This is Coreen Costello. She is a registered Republican. She describes herself as very conservative. The reason I mention that is because what we are debating here today is not a partisan issue. Coreen is clear that she and her family are strongly opposed to abortion, and yet she wants us to stand with the President on this veto. In March of 1995, when she was 7 months pregnant with her third child, Coreen had premature contractions and was rushed to the emergency room. She discovered through an ultrasound that there was something seriously wrong with her baby. The baby, named Katherine Grace, had a deadly neurological disorder and had been unable to move inside Coreen's womb for almost 2 months. The movements Coreen had been feeling were not the healthy kicking of a baby, they were actually nothing more than bubbles and amniotic fluid which had puddled in Coreen's uterus. The baby had not been able to move for months. The chest cavity was unable to rise and fall. Her lungs and chest were left severely underdeveloped, almost to the point of nonexistence. Her vital organs were atrophying. The doctors told Coreen and her husband the baby was not going to survive, and they recommended terminating the pregnancy. Coreen said, "This is not an option. I will not have an abortion. I want to go into labor naturally." She wanted the baby born on God's time. She did not want to interfere. The Costellos spent 2 weeks going from expert to expert.…”