Timothy Roemer: “we are talking today about a procedure that is defined as the following: ``Partially delivers a living fetus before…”

“we are talking today about a procedure that is defined as the following: ``Partially delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery.'' And we are talking about doing this with a pair of scissors inserted into the back of this baby's skull. Now, let me gently try to contrast that image that you have right now with one that is given in a very popular book today on the bestseller list, ``What To Expect When You're Expecting,'' when people are ready for the joy of a new birth in their family. In the fifth and the sixth month when many of these gruesome procedures are performed, here is what is happening to this baby: By the end of the sixth month, the fetus is about 13 inches long and weighs about a pound and a quarter. Its skin is thin and shiny with no underlying fat. Its finger and toe prints are visible. Eyelids begin to part. The eyes are opening. With intensive care, the fetus may survive now outside the womb. So we are now contrasting a procedure that is brutal and gruesome and abominable with what we could put into care and technology and love and commitment to have that baby survive. Let me say, Mr. Speaker, that in this body we spend billions of dollars on satellites in space that can pick up a license plate on Earth. We spend billions on defense, for F-117's to deliver cruise missiles. Can we not find a measure to ban these procedures? Mr. Speaker, pro-life, pro-choice people, this is not a question of one's philosophy.…”