Louie Gohmert: “I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), my dear friend, for all of his work in this area; not just his work, but his…”

“I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), my dear friend, for all of his work in this area; not just his work, but his leadership. I know his heart beats with a desire to make sure that any heart beating is protected. {time} 2100 I heard a comedian on television this last night saying something about, ``Yeah, so many years ago I had an abortion because it is my choice,'' something of that order. The audience cheered and clapped. I thought, ``A comedian?'' My heart wasn't angry. My heart just broke for that child. As my friend knows, my wife and I, our first child came 8 to 10 weeks early. They tried for 3 days to stop the contractions, and after 3 days it was clear our daughter was coming. Back then, it was far enough back that we really didn't know if we were going to be able to keep her. The first day she was there in Tyler, we were losing her. I had had malpractice cases as a judge that involved the condition. I know for preemies they don't like to give too much extra oxygen because you get to 100 percent and it may cause blindness. It is a condition called retrolental fibroplasia. The retina has not matured enough, and in the presence of oxygen, the blood vessels constrict and cause little fibers to come out and separate from the back of the wall. I knew all of that. I knew all about what was going on. When the pediatrician came in and tried to intubate our child, tried to get that tube in--he didn't intubate a lot of children.…”