Virginia Foxx: “This bill is not borne of ignorance but of extremely deep-felt concern for unborn children who suffer pain as they are…”

“This bill is not borne of ignorance but of extremely deep-felt concern for unborn children who suffer pain as they are being murdered. Madam Speaker, I fear for the conscience of our Nation because the termination of unborn children for any reason is tolerated in some parts of our country throughout pregnancy, even though scientific conclusions show infants feel pain by at least 20 weeks' gestation. That means literally that a baby at the halfway point of a pregnancy will experience pain during the violence of a dismemberment abortion, the most common second-trimester abortion wherein a steel tool severs limbs from the infant and its skull is crushed. Madam Speaker, it's even difficult for me to describe this procedure without getting emotional. These procedures are horrific, and in terms of pain, like torture to their infant subjects. As a country, we should leave this practice behind. That's why I'm a cosponsor of the underlying legislation to prohibit elective abortions in the United States past 20 weeks. Since 1973, approximately 52 million--52 million, Madam Speaker--children's lives have been tragically aborted in the United States. It is unconscionable that in America, where we fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we tolerate the systemic extermination of an entire generation of the most vulnerable among us. H.R. 1797 rejects that hypocrisy and provides commonsense protections for unborn children who feel pain, just as you and I do.…”