Frank Lautenberg: “I must at the outset say that I hope we will support the President's veto. The case has been made by those with whom I…”

“I must at the outset say that I hope we will support the President's veto. The case has been made by those with whom I disagree, obviously, I think very carefully, very articulately. I think there is one thing we can agree upon. That is, neither side accepts late-term abortions as something they would like to see done routinely; neither side. Not this side, for sure. I say, this side, I am not talking about the party side of the aisle. I am talking about those on this side of the debate. It is a terrible thing to contemplate. The problem is, this bill is a confrontation of a problem that is very serious, being judged, in my view, by the wrong folks in the wrong place. The decision has to be made in the privacy of a discussion between a woman, her conscience, and her physician. President Clinton has, along with many of us here, argued that this bill should be modified to take account of women's health needs. One of the most extreme elements of this bill is the failure to include the exception in which the health of the mother is at risk.”