Bob Wise: “there is no issue that I agonize over, and I suspect many Members here agonize over, more than abortion. Except for the…”

“there is no issue that I agonize over, and I suspect many Members here agonize over, more than abortion. Except for the most committed on either side, the issues are not clear-cut and they are not easily resolved. I also believe that reasonable limitations can be placed upon abortions performed late in pregnancy. But this legislation goes too far because it says doctors performing abortion using this procedure can be fined or jailed for 2 years. The tragedy of this debate is not what is being said, it is what is not being said. Supporters say they want to prevent abortion. Yet the mothers who have this procedure, such as the women who have visited my office, did not want an abortion. They had to have this procedure to safeguard their health, their life, or because there was such a gross deformity of the fetus it was not likely to live. It is important to note also what is not in this bill, Mr. Speaker: Any language that would permit the doctor to perform this procedure if the mother's health was seriously endangered. That is right. Even when a mother's health is seriously endangered a doctor performing this procedure can be jailed. The supporters of this bill show dramatic pictures, artist's drawings, to make a case. Let me show a real photo to make my case. This is Coreen Costello, who visited my office, and this is her family. Late in her pregnancy she learned the child she was carrying had a severe and fatal disability.…”