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Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I am troubled today. I am troubled because I find myself standing on the Senate floor once again raising an issue that cuts to the very core of human cruelty and moral disregard. I have stood here before, many of my colleagues have stood here before, repeatedly speaking about my strong belief that the partial-birth abortion procedure is wrong. Not only is it wrong, it is evil. The procedure is a reprehensible act of human violence, violence against a human being.
I recently stood here not too many weeks ago and told Members of the Senate about a helpless baby named ``Hope.'' On April 6, 1999, Baby Hope's mother entered a Dayton, OH, abortion clinic with the intention of having her pregnancy terminated through a partial-birth abortion. However, the abortion did not succeed.
Here is what happened: Dr. Haskell, who we have heard so much about on the Senate floor, the infamous Dayton abortionist, started the procedure as
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After this initial step, in this particular instance, Dr. Haskell sent the woman home because it usually takes 2 or 3 days before the baby can be removed from the womb and the abortion completed. Expecting to return in 2 or 3 days, this woman followed the doctor's orders and went home to Cincinnati.
Soon after she left the abortion clinic, her cervix started dilating too quickly, causing her to go into labor. Shortly
after midnight, on the first day of the procedure, she entered the hospital and gave birth to a very much alive but very tiny baby. The neonatologist determined that Baby Hope's lungs were too underdeveloped to sustain life without the help of a respirator. Baby Hope, however, was not placed on a respirator. Instead, the poor, defenseless creature was left to die only a little more than 3 hours after birth.
I am back on the floor again today because we now, tragically, have another example of a partial-birth abortion in Ohio that did not go according to the abortionist's plan, this one occurring on August 19, a couple of weeks ago.
The Dayton Daily News reported this incident. The procedure was again at the hands of Dr. Haskell. Here, too, he started the barbaric procedure by dilating the mother's cervix. Similarly, this woman went into labor only 1 hour later, was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital, and gave birth to a baby girl a short time later. This time, however, a miracle occurred. This little baby lived.
A medical technician appropriately named this precious little ``Baby Grace.'' After her birth, she was transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Hospital in Dayton. The Montgomery County Children's Services Board has temporary, interim custody of little Baby Grace. She likely will face months of hospitalization and possible lifelong complications, we don't know, all resulting from being premature and the induced abortion.
I am appalled and sickened by the fact that both of these partial-birth abortions occurred anywhere. I am particularly offended by the fact they occurred in my home State of Ohio. But wherever they occur, it is a human tragedy.
I have said this before and I will say it again; the partial-birth abortion should be outlawed. Partial-birth abortion should be outlawed in our civilized society.
When we hear about the brutal death of Baby Hope and we think about the miracle of Baby Grace, we have to stop and ask, to what depths have we sunk in this country? Partial-birth abortion is a very clear matter of right and wrong, good versus evil. It is my wish there will come a day, I hope and pray, when I no longer have to come to this Senate floor and talk about partial-birth abortions. Until that day arrives, the day when the procedure has been outlawed in our country, I must continue to plead for the protection of unborn fetuses threatened by partial-birth abortions.
In the name of Baby Hope, let's stop the killing. In the name of Baby Grace, let's protect the living.
I yield the floor.
END