Pro-life Congressman Chris Smith took his colleagues and the Obama Administration to task on the floor of the U.S. House on the eve of the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, chastising them for promoting the abortion agenda when there is so much evidence for the harmful effects of abortion on women and their unborn children.
"How can so many seemingly smart, sane, compassionate and accomplished people — especially in politics — support, promote and if President Obama has his way in the pending health care legislation, lavishly fund with public dollars, the violent death of unborn children and the wounding of their moms by abortion," demanded the New Jersey Republican.
Smith described the pro-life movement as "the greatest human rights struggle on earth" and asked members of Congress, "How long will we permit the pro-choice cover-up and bogus safety claims to misinform, especially in light of the reams of evidence documenting serious injury to women who abort?"
He dismissed the notion of "safe" abortion as "nonsense."
"Women deserve better. They, at the very least, deserve the truth," said Smith.
Young children can readily identify the humanity of the unborn child dismembered through abortion, pointed out Smith, and instinctively realize the grave injustice of abortion "with unclouded comprehension." That same realization recently seized Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director, said Smith, when she "watched ultrasound imaging of an abortion in progress of a three month old unborn child."
"Self described as 'extremely pro-choice' but now pro-life, she said she watched an unborn child 'crumple' before her very eyes as the infant was dismembered and vacuumed to death by a hideous suction device 20-30 times more powerful than a household vacuum cleaner."
"'I could see the baby try to move away,'" Smith quoted Johnson as saying.
"Tragically, never again comes too late for the approximately 52 million babies slaughtered in Planned Parenthood clinics and abortion mills throughout America since the infamous holdings of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973," said Smith, who then told fellow members that that slaughter would end, "if we at long last awake from our slumber and combat the cruelty and injustice of abortion."
But the pro-life leader stated that pro-abortion forces have "more to cover-up than dead kids."
"Abortion hurts women, physically, psychologically, and the data strongly suggests that it even mal-affects children subsequently born to women who abort," he continued, saying at least 102 studies have yielded such findings.
One article from the London Times cited by Smith revealed that senior British doctors had "uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women with no previous history of psychological problems," showing that post-abortive women "have twice the level of psychological problems and three times the level of depression as women who have given birth or never been pregnant."
Another New Zealand study found that "78.6 percent of 15-18 year old girls who had abortions displayed symptoms of major depression compared to 31 percent of their peers. And that 27 percent of the 21-25 year old women who had abortions had suicidal idealization compared to 8 percent of those who did not have an abortion."
Women also should know about the possible link between abortion and breast cancer, said Smith. In particular he mentioned the 2009 study co-authored by a National Cancer Institute researcher who had first denied the link, but later affirmed that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer by 40 percent.
While Americans know that "prematurity and low birth weight are leading causes of disabilities in children," Smith pointed to 113 studies that showed one abortion raises the risk of preterm birth by 36 percent, and increases to "a staggering 93 percent after two or more abortions."
"All of this begs a serious question," Smith said in his concluding remarks. "Why then is the Obama Administration expanding this vicious assault on women and children — often by massively subsidizing pro-abortion non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to do the dirty work — in the United States, Africa, Latin America, everywhere.
"Maybe some politicians aren't so smart, sane, or compassionate after all."
Contact: Peter J. Smith
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: January 28, 2010
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