S. 311

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Senate had an opportunity yesterday to affirm our commitment to the dignity of human life. We had a chance to state plainly that newborn babies who happen to have survived abortions are entitled to the same legal protections and professional care as other newborns.

In all honesty, the fact that this legislation even needed to be written is a sad reminder of the degree to which our society is at risk of losing some crucial moral bearings, and the fact that the U.S. Senate could not even vote to advance this bill is beyond dismaying.

The legislation was silent on the abortion issue. All it would have done is to have affirmed the rights of these newborn babies, but apparently even that was a bridge too far, not just for the far-left fringe--not anymore--but for the vast majority of our Democratic colleagues right here in the Senate.

We are no longer dealing with a normal, traditional Democratic Party; we are looking at a party that has been dragged so far to the left, it would have been unrecognizable to folks just a few years ago. In 1996, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan condemned partial-birth abortion by comparing it to infanticide. He was a distinguished, mainstream Democratic Senator from New York about 20 years ago. And today? Ninety- four percent of Senate Democrats could not even vote to protect babies after they are born. The only explanations they could offer were bizarre euphemisms and vague references to issues that have no bearing once a child has already been born alive.

It was a sorry display, but I can say this: This fight isn't over. The Republicans will not let this stunning extremism from our Democratic colleagues be the last word on this subject.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source