On the recordJanuary 17, 2019
I will just say a couple of words, and then I will yield to my good friend, Dr. Harris. Madam Speaker, doctors today routinely diagnose and treat a myriad of conditions, illnesses, and diseases suffered by society's littlest patients--unborn babies--significantly enhancing their health and chances to survive and to thrive. Comprehensive maternal and prenatal care is critical and ensures that both mother and baby are as healthy as possible during pregnancy and childbirth and in the weeks that follow. Yet, tragically, in the United States, we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. While unborn children are killed at an unconscionable rate, nearly 2,500 children's lives are destroyed each and every day, about 906,000 in 2018 and more than 62 million dead babies since 1973. That shocking loss of children's lives equates with the entire population of England, more than 62 million kids who have been lost. This stunning loss of children's lives has occurred during a time when science has made it absolutely clear that birth is an important event in the life of a child. It is an event. It is not the beginning of life; it is an event. And the miracle of life before birth is nothing short of breathtaking. The first baby pictures today, proudly shared and displayed, are, most often, ultrasound photos, showing the baby alive and growing in the womb. They are not of newborns--them, too, later.…
