Chris Smith: “I want to thank my good friend and colleague Mr. Pitts for his leadership, and for that of all of those who have spoken.…”

“I want to thank my good friend and colleague Mr. Pitts for his leadership, and for that of all of those who have spoken. Doc, thank you for your eloquent words. Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Cao and Jean Schmidt. I do want to welcome His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church of America, here, and his brother bishops. They are most welcome, and I thank them for their incredible stance in favor of the sanctity and sacredness of all human life, from womb to tomb, and that we all need to act as our brothers' and sisters' keepers. Matthew 25, where our Lord said, Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do likewise to me. His Beatitude Jonah lives that, as does his church and as do, God willing, all of us. But they do it in such a superlative way, and I thank them for their example. It is awe inspiring. Mr. Speaker, I have been in the pro-life movement for 38 years, in the greatest human rights struggle on Earth, the right-to-life movement. What I still don't get is this: How can so many seemingly smart, sane, compassionate, and accomplished people, especially in politics, support, promote and--if President Obama has his way in the pending health care legislation--lavishly fund with public dollars the violent death of unborn children and the wounding of their moms by abortion? Is it really so hard to understand that abortion is violence against children, a pernicious form of child abuse, falsely and aggressively marketed as choice, a human right or as health care?”