PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT OF 2000 -- (Extensions of Remarks - April
06, 2000)
[Page: E509]
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SPEECH OF
HON. JIM DeMINT
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, April 5, 2000
- Mr. DEMINT. Mr. Speaker, during the great debates between Senator
Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln in 1858, Lincoln stood before thousands of
hostile spectators to contest the moral issue of slavery in America. He warned
of a nation that treaded upon the principles of equality and freedom, ``Let
us,'' Lincoln said, ``united as one people throughout this land, until we
shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.'' His
words, and dreams, renewed the heart of the nation to fulfill our promise to
all people no matter their color, creed, or class.
- Today, we too stand at a moment of decision. The debate on banning partial
birth abortion provides us an opportunity of a lifetime--to protect the most
innocent lives among us. This debate strikes at the very heart of who we are
as a people--the core of our conscience and the character of our nation. It is
our time, just as Lincoln answered the call of his convictions, to defend the
defenseless and speak for those without voices.
- What a privilege it is to make the right decision today.
- Some in this House have cheapened this debate through distortions and
distractions--not willing to unveil the reality that only seconds and inches
separate thousands of children from life and death every year.
- In Lincoln's time, our nation deemed slaves sixty-percent human. We
shackled their legs and beat their backs. We disposed of them as mere chattel,
auctioning them like cattle and demanded they give their life and labor for
our prosperity. Are we much different today? We deem innocent babies--with
kicking feet and beating hearts--less than human. We dispose of them as
useless, in pretentious compassion discarding them as ``unwanted.''
- Abortion is the civil rights issue of our time. This partial-birth
abortion ban rescues our children from the slavery of choice.
- I ask this body to make the right choice. Join Lincoln in the hallmarks of
history as people who shall once more stand up declaring that all men are
created equal. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the ban on partial
birth abortions.
END