Political Quotes

“those of us who are pro-life are concerned about the health of the mother, and I believe those in this body who are pro-choice are concerned about the life of the child. We cannot reduce this debate to simple accusations which demagog rather than try to embrace the whole of our separate concerns, whichever side of this debate on which we fall. The dividing line here is the exception of health of the mother, which some want to incorporate into in bill. No one argues about the need to save the life of the mother. I have listened to statements by the AMA and Dr. Koop, and I would like to offer a statement by Dr. Bernard Nathanson who has spent a great part of his professional life dealing with these issues. Dr. Nathanson, when he made this statement, was a visiting scholar at the Center for Clinical and Research Ethics at Vanderbilt University. He says and I quote: With respect to late-term abortions for women who suffer serious health consequences as a result of the pregnancy, let me assure you that this operation, partial-birth abortion, is so fraught with significant surgical hazards and complications that it is more likely to tip the health scales and kill the pregnant woman than it is to save her life. As the hazards and complications of the procedure, I have yet to see in the conventional peer review medical literature a well-controlled, thoroughly documented study of the procedure in question.…”