On the recordJanuary 22, 2010
Mr. President, today is the 37th anniversary of a double tragedy for our Nation. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States twisted the Constitution to create a right to kill babies before they are born. Since then, nearly 50 million babies have lost their lives. That is more than 40 times the number of Americans who died in all of our Nation's wars. Those babies were living human beings, and they were killed by abortion. Less than 25 years earlier, inspired by the experience of World War II, the United Nations unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United States voted for it, and it is said to be the most widely translated document in the world. Its very first words declare that ``recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.'' Article 3 of the Declaration states that ``everyone has the right to life.'' I belong to the human family because I am a living human being. So does every Member of the Senate, every citizen of this country, every human being on this planet. Each of us was no less a living human being, no less a member of the human family, before we were born than we are now. The facts did not change, but Roe v. Wade represented a radically different set of values. In January 1983, President Ronald Reagan said that the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade was a good time to pause and reflect.…





