Chuck Schumer: “I salute the gentlewoman from Colorado for her leadership, and I want to reiterate some of the points that have been…”

“I salute the gentlewoman from Colorado for her leadership, and I want to reiterate some of the points that have been made before. Mr. Speaker, it all boils down to this: A doctor is in an operating room, an obstetrician-gynecologist. There is a serious problem that evolves and the doctor has to make a judgment. Does it make any sense for this body, or for any body, to impose the threat of a crime, a criminal penalty and a jail sentence, on that doctor while he or she is making the decision about what is best for health or for life? Then let us say that we even go with the narrow amendment of life. What is the doctor going to do? Is a doctor not supposed to worry that maybe his or her judgment is different than what a jury might determine 2 years later, not under the glare of the operating room lights? This amendment is regrettable. It is unfortunate. I have some sympathy with those that disagree with my view on the issue of choice, about the idea that it should not be easy and it should not be a quick decision, and abortion should not be a method of birth control. We are not talking about that here because in these cases the mother, the parents, wanted to have the baby but something happened and an emergency may occur. We, again without a bit of knowledge of what is actually the best medical procedure, are imposing something here, and that is simply wrong. I would say to my colleagues, resist this amendment.…”