Vicky Hartzler: “We do a lot of things here in Washington and discuss many types of legislation, and sometimes the impact of what we do…”

“We do a lot of things here in Washington and discuss many types of legislation, and sometimes the impact of what we do gets lost in the debate. Today, I want to remind my colleagues that this bill impacts people and why it's important. There is an injustice occurring in our society. One unborn baby who is 6 months along develops a medical condition. The doctor gives anesthesia in the womb to that baby because it can feel pain, and an operation is conducted to correct the problem so the baby can be brought to full term. Another unborn baby who is 6 months along, down the street at a clinic, does not receive anesthesia, and is ripped apart limb by limb by an abortionist, who crushes the skull to complete the abortion. This is wrong. I rise today in support of H.R. 1797, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would prohibit an abortion of an unborn child who has surpassed 20 weeks on the basis that children at this stage of development can feel pain. In light of the recent trial of Kermit Gosnell, we have seen firsthand the very gruesome nature of what is currently taking place in America's abortion industry--the reality that abortion involves not a choice but the taking of a human life. Late- term abortions are agonizingly painful, and they are happening all around the Nation. A leading expert in fetal pain has said ``the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation . .…”