Louise Slaughter: “in every way this debate today is a tragedy. First, I want to make it very clear, as clear as I can to people who are…”

“in every way this debate today is a tragedy. First, I want to make it very clear, as clear as I can to people who are interested in knowing the truth, that the third trimester abortions, and the partial-birth abortions are very rare and they are not done as elective surgery at all. They are done in the case of a severely deformed fetus, a dead fetus, or a mother who will not survive until the birth is completed. It is not a case of grabbing hold of two kicking legs and delivering a child that will be able to grow and respond to life. It is not a case of that at all. Why do we add to the awful tragedy of the families that desperately want the children that they are carrying and lose? Why do we say that the Congress of the United States knows better than the parents do and better than their doctor does, and we are going to require that they continue this pregnancy. I am scared about the precedent that this legislation sets. To say that the procedure, practice and procedure, should be left to the Congress of the United States and not to medical people is a dangerous idea. A physician cannot choose this procedure even if other procedures would have serious health consequences, and we have talked about that, the possibility of loss of fertility.…”