Nathan Deal

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6099, the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2006. This legislation is intended to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child. It also ensures that women will have the chance to ask questions; and, if they so choose, request that pain-reducing medicines, anesthesia, or analgesia be administered to their unborn child before the abortion takes place. At the outset, it is important to clarify that this legislation is not about the right to have an abortion. While citizens in other parts of the world, such as in Europe and in Canada, have the opportunity to vote and express their views on the issue of whether or not abortion should be legal, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world where its citizens do not have that right. The United States Supreme Court has effectively taken it away from the American people through its decisions. As someone who believes in the sanctity of human life, I look forward to a day when the American citizens on both sides of the abortion debate can decide the issue democratically rather than having it decided for them through judicial activism. I trust the American people to make the right decision when that day comes. But, Mr. Speaker, today rather than dealing with the legality of abortion itself, this legislation deals with the issue of informed consent for women choosing to have an abortion. The bill requires abortion providers to inform women about the pain experienced by their unborn child. It also requires women to be given a brochure and a consent form demonstrating that they have had an opportunity to make an inform decision on whether or not to administer pain mitigation to the unborn child before the abortion is performed. A significant body of medical evidence now indicates that fetuses experience pain. Dr. Sunny Anand, a neurologist and the Nation's leading expert on fetal pain, testified that ``the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and the pain perceived by a fetus is possibly more intense than that experienced by term newborns or other children.'' Since Dr. Anand's groundbreaking research published in 1987 showed that by 20 weeks these fetuses can feel pain, other researchers have built on his work, further verifying the pain felt by the unborn. For example, just this year British researchers performed brain scans on premature babies as young as 23 weeks from fertilization and found new physiological evidence that these premature infants feel pain. But perhaps more important than the scientific studies, we know that doctors who perform surgery on babies in the womb, as well as babies who are born prematurely, some as early as 23 weeks of gestation, routinely administer anesthesia to these children, just like an adult who is undergoing surgery. As Dr. Jean Wright, a physician in Savannah, Georgia, who specializes in the care and anesthesia of critically ill children, testified before Congress last year, ``If you came back with me to Savannah tonight and came to our neonatal intensive care unit, we would stand between the bed of a 23-week infant, a 26-week infant, and you would not need a congressional hearing to figure out whether that infant feels pain. We roll back the sheets or blanket, and you would look to the facial expression, their response to the heel stick, you would understand that.'' As I have stated before, the problem that this legislation seeks to address is the issue of informed consent for women seeking abortions. Like most of us, women who arrive at clinics seeking abortions are usually not trained in the medical sciences. We rely on physicians to provide all of the information needed to make an informed decision. In the case of abortion, we need to make sure that women know all the facts, including the evidence that unborn children feel pain. This is obviously for the benefit of the unborn child who may either be spared from abortion altogether or receive pain-reducing medicines. Truly informed consent also benefits the woman who may decide against having an abortion, or may decide to use pain mitigation for the unborn child during the abortion procedure. Either way, she will be spared the severe psychological trauma that may result from making an uninformed decision. This legislation is a commonsense measure that both pro-life and pro- choice Members should support. In fact, NARAL, a large pro-abortion organization, has publicly declared that they do not oppose the bill. At this time, I would like to thank the lead sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for his work on this legislation and for being a stalwart in the pro-life cause in Congress. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/4\ minutes to my colleague from Georgia, a physician, Dr. Gingrey.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to another physician, Dr. Weldon of Florida.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Sekula Gibbs), who is the third physician to speak on this issue in favor of the legislation.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would say to Mr. Pallone that I am prepared to yield the remaining time to Mr. Smith who will conclude the debate on our side, if he has no other speakers.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of the time to Mr. Smith from New Jersey.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1245) to provide for programs to increase the awareness and knowledge of women and health care providers with respect to gynecologic cancers, as amended.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 1245, the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005, or Johanna's Law. This bill takes several important steps forward in helping to educate women and their health care providers about the dangers and early warning signs of gynecologic cancers. Ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancers are grouped together as the major gynecologic cancers. And as members of the Energy and Commerce committee recently learned during consideration of the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, gynecological cancer, specifically cervical cancer, was once the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. Over the past century, we have made great strides in reducing both the morbidity and the mortality associated with cervical cancer. We also have programs in place, like the CDC's Early Detection program, that provides free screening and referral services for women who cannot afford to pay for screenings themselves. When experts have compared cervical cancer screening and survival rates of the United States to other industrialized countries, the United States ranks near the top. We do a good job of screening for cancer, and our treatment facilities are in fact the best in the world. With the recent discovery of a new vaccine approach to prevent the transmission of the HPV virus, I am hopeful that one day we will be able to eradicate most if not all cases of cervical cancer. But, Mr. Speaker, there is much more work to be done on gynecological cancers. Too many women don't know enough about the disease to ask their doctors or go to regular screenings. Too many cases of gynecologic cancers go unidentified or untreated until it is too late. This is the underlying purpose for the legislation before us today. This bill takes the important step of creating a national public service campaign to educate women and their health care providers on gynecologic cancers. The campaign will help to raise awareness of the problem, the warning signs, and remind women to get screened regularly. Within 6 months of enactment, the legislation will require the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress on all education and outreach activities related to gynecologic cancers and other cancers. This information will give Congress and the executive branch the tools to identify what activities are ongoing and what is being done, what is working, and what could be done better. At this time I would like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Issa, Ms. Granger, Mr. Burton, Mr. Levin, and Ms. DeLauro for their hard work on this important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 864) to provide for programs and activities with respect to the prevention of underage drinking, as amended.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on this bill.