Jerry Nadler: “We today consider legislation reaffirming an important principle which is enshrined in the laws of all 50 States and…”

“We today consider legislation reaffirming an important principle which is enshrined in the laws of all 50 States and unquestioned in law, that an infant who is born and who is living independently of the birth mother is entitled to the same care as any other child similarly diagnosed regardless of whether labor was induced or occurred spontaneously. It has never been particularly clear to me why we need to legislate that which most Members of Congress and the general public already understand to be the law; but if the majority is interested in restating well-settled law, there is no harm to that. The same measure passed last year as an amendment to the Patients' Bill of Rights legislation in the Senate by a vote of 98-0, which is about as uncontroversial as something can get. Certainly it proved to be less controversial than the Patients' Bill of Rights. I am pleased that the majority has made a serious effort in this draft of the bill to make clear that this bill has nothing to do with matters related to abortion, even going so far as to add subsection (c) further clarifying that point. Whatever concerns some may have had that this bill might be some clever way to undermine the rights protected under Roe v. Wade have, I think, been eliminated.”