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[00:00:11] I really don't care what they say about [00:00:16] your Scottie I think you're all right [00:00:20] [Music] [00:01:03] [Music] [00:02:44] [Music] [00:03:58] [Music] [00:07:34] [Music] [00:08:41] all right get all of our groups here [00:08:44] thank you [00:08:50] thank you all for coming we're in a bit [00:08:53] of a rush we got another vote coming up [00:08:54] in about five minutes and I want to make [00:08:57] sure that Senator Ernst from Iowa can [00:08:59] speak there's no more eloquent sincere [00:09:02] and persuasive voice on pro-life issues [00:09:04] than Joni Ernst and the purpose of this [00:09:07] news conference is to unveil the [00:09:09] Senate's efforts to pass the pain [00:09:11] capable unborn child protection Act that [00:09:14] passed in the house and Joni has been a [00:09:16] co-sponsor since day one now I'll turn [00:09:19] it over to her and first I want to thank [00:09:24] Senator Graham for being such a great [00:09:27] partner in this thank you so much and I [00:09:29] I can't say that I am the most eloquent [00:09:32] speaker but I am maybe one of the most [00:09:35] passionate when it when it comes to [00:09:37] these life issues we know that at five [00:09:40] months of gestational age babies have [00:09:43] ten fingers they have ten toes they can [00:09:48] make faces they can yawn and we also [00:09:53] know that they feel pain it's [00:09:57] unconscionable that the United States is [00:10:00] one of only seven countries that allows [00:10:04] abortions after five months we are [00:10:09] currently in the company of countries [00:10:11] like China and North Korea not good [00:10:16] company in many ways I'm fighting for [00:10:19] this legislation in honor of my friend [00:10:23] my very small friend and fellow Iowa [00:10:27] Iowan mica pickering mica at five years [00:10:33] old now is an incredible young boy who [00:10:38] was born prematurely at just five months [00:10:43] gestation and I've had the honor of [00:10:46] knowing mica for many years now and [00:10:48] before I had given a speech on the floor [00:10:51] of the Senate I had a poster board that [00:10:55] had a picture of mica at birth this tiny [00:11:00] baby and I had a side-by-side picture of [00:11:03] him [00:11:04] at his his then age of several years old [00:11:07] climbing a tree and as I had that in my [00:11:11] office Micah ran up to it and he pointed [00:11:15] at the picture of himself as that tiny [00:11:18] little baby and he said baby and I said [00:11:23] yes Micah that's a baby and so we know [00:11:28] that these incredible young babies even [00:11:32] though that they're born or are living [00:11:35] at that age they can feel pain and we [00:11:38] know that they are babies it [00:11:40] demonstrates that they are babies this [00:11:44] legislation can protect up to ten [00:11:46] thousand lives like Micah's every year [00:11:49] by preventing abortions after about five [00:11:52] months of development and it is [00:11:55] absolutely critical that the Senate take [00:11:57] up this legislation to protect our most [00:12:01] vulnerable in our population so again I [00:12:04] want to thank you Lindsey so much and [00:12:07] for all of our partners that have joined [00:12:09] together on this incredibly important [00:12:11] legislation we must take this up on the [00:12:14] floor of the Senate we must do it to [00:12:16] honor all of those little little [00:12:19] precious lives so thank you all very [00:12:22] much god bless and and hopefully we will [00:12:25] see this through to fruition and a vote [00:12:27] on the floor of the Senate Thank You [00:12:29] Lindsey thank you very very much I [00:12:32] appreciate I know you're busy thank you [00:12:33] for coming by we'll have senator sass & [00:12:36] Langford come in a moment and we'll [00:12:37] introduce our group our leaders of the [00:12:39] groups behind us but sort of put this [00:12:41] bill in context what we're trying to [00:12:43] accomplish here is to get America out of [00:12:46] a club of seven nations that I [00:12:48] particularly don't want to be in so when [00:12:50] you look at medical literature about the [00:12:52] development of a child in the fifth [00:12:54] month they encourage young parents to [00:12:56] sing to the unborn child because they [00:12:58] can recognize your voice and the theory [00:13:01] of the case here is pretty important [00:13:03] under roe v wade there's a state [00:13:05] interest when the the fetus becomes [00:13:08] viable and viability has definitely [00:13:12] changed since 1973 [00:13:13] but there's a new theory here a legal [00:13:16] theory to protect [00:13:16] unborn that is very very important the [00:13:19] construct of this bill is that at 20 [00:13:21] weeks the child is capable of filling [00:13:23] excruciating pain operations are [00:13:26] routinely performed on unborn children [00:13:29] at 20 weeks and the the medical practice [00:13:33] that the standard medical practice is to [00:13:36] provide anesthesia to the unborn child [00:13:38] because they feel pain in the process of [00:13:41] trying to save the child's life so it's [00:13:43] not much of a leap to say that an [00:13:45] abortion would be a very painful thing [00:13:46] for that child to go through so we're [00:13:48] trying to convince the courts that [00:13:50] legislative bodies like the Congress and [00:13:53] at the state level have a legitimate [00:13:55] compelling state interest to protect a a [00:13:58] child at the fifth month of development [00:14:00] from excruciating pain that would come [00:14:03] from an abortion again if the medical [00:14:06] requirements are that you ain't provide [00:14:08] anesthesia to save the child's life that [00:14:11] says a lot about the development of that [00:14:14] child so I'm excited that the courts are [00:14:17] going to embrace this as a legitimate [00:14:19] compelling state interest 20 states have [00:14:22] passed a version of this law including [00:14:24] South Carolina it passed the House [00:14:27] yesterday with a very strong vote we're [00:14:29] going to take it up in the Senate I can [00:14:31] assure every pro-life group out there [00:14:32] this will be on the floor of the Senate [00:14:35] sooner rather than later and a debate [00:14:37] worthy of a great nation and when it [00:14:39] comes to the unborn one of the strongest [00:14:40] advocates you could Oh keV is Senator [00:14:43] Lankford and we'll turn it over to him [00:14:46] bill thanks for being here that this is [00:14:48] a very straightforward bill and I try to [00:14:50] tell everyone what it is and what it is [00:14:52] not this is an opportunity for us to be [00:14:54] able to basically catch up for the rest [00:14:55] of the world where the rest of the world [00:14:57] has already gone recognizing that a [00:15:00] child at the fifth month of development [00:15:01] is a viable child when you look across [00:15:04] Europe Europe has already changed their [00:15:06] laws now with the exception of the [00:15:08] Netherlands and they're the only ones [00:15:09] that have not have they do not allow [00:15:11] elective abortions after the fifth month [00:15:13] we are behind most of the world we're in [00:15:17] an elite club of nations like North [00:15:19] Korea in China that still allow [00:15:21] abortions this late in their in their [00:15:24] development so we need to be able to fix [00:15:27] our loss again the rest of the world is [00:15:29] already at the spot where [00:15:30] behinds and what we're doing to protect [00:15:33] that child at this stage of development [00:15:35] the other part of it is also an area [00:15:38] that we're lagging behind the rest of [00:15:39] the world this bill also corrects an [00:15:41] issue that occasionally there's an [00:15:43] abortion where it is botched and instead [00:15:46] of actually destroying the child in the [00:15:48] womb the child is fully delivered and [00:15:51] when the child is fully delivered a [00:15:52] decision has to be made what do you do [00:15:54] now with this child medical [00:15:56] professionals literally surround this [00:15:57] child that's now fully delivered this [00:16:00] bill would say if a child is fully [00:16:02] developed or fully delivered then they [00:16:05] need to get medical attention to try to [00:16:06] protect their life this is no longer a [00:16:08] child in the womb that we're arguing [00:16:09] about this is a child who's been [00:16:11] delivered we think that's basic humanity [00:16:14] there's at times there's an argument [00:16:15] about is a child a child if it's in the [00:16:18] womb but there's never been a debate if [00:16:20] a child as a child outside the womb this [00:16:22] tries to be able to correct that issue [00:16:24] it's rare but it does occasionally [00:16:26] happen and we believe that is an area [00:16:28] that we and just basic humanity should [00:16:30] be able to address again this is not [00:16:32] trying to be divisive this is trying to [00:16:34] say these are common-sense issues that [00:16:35] the rest of the world has already [00:16:37] settled that we need to be able to [00:16:39] resolve in our law as well and I look [00:16:40] forward so that's not just passing the [00:16:42] house but passing the Senate and for us [00:16:44] to be able to catch up with the rest of [00:16:46] the world and to be able to speak to our [00:16:47] children about the days past when we [00:16:50] used to have children at six seven [00:16:52] months of viability that are actually [00:16:55] that were killed in the womb that this [00:16:56] actually protects those life in the days [00:16:58] ahead so thank you for allowing me to be [00:17:00] a part of this conversation this is a [00:17:02] fight that is worthy of having and it is [00:17:04] a debate that we should have as a nation [00:17:06] and I think where most Americans already [00:17:08] are in America is catching up to the [00:17:12] idea we've put on the table over 60% of [00:17:15] Americans when asked about this say no I [00:17:18] think we should get out of the club of [00:17:20] seven and we should go where the rest of [00:17:21] the world's going but the groups behind [00:17:23] me have made this possible you've been [00:17:25] the voice of the unborn in so many [00:17:28] occasions and as with a partial birth [00:17:32] abortion we took awhile but we got there [00:17:37] we will get there here because just [00:17:40] common sense logic and Humanities on our [00:17:42] side let's start with care [00:17:44] device for the National Right to Life [00:17:47] good morning I am Carol Tobias president [00:17:50] of National Right to Life the Federal [00:17:52] Federation of state right to life [00:17:53] organizations I am proud to stand here [00:17:56] today with Senator Graham to offer our [00:17:58] support for the pain capable unborn [00:18:00] child protection Act it is common to [00:18:03] read in articles about this legislation [00:18:04] that unborn children do not have the [00:18:07] capacity to experience pain at 20 weeks [00:18:09] fetal age those kinds of claims ignore [00:18:12] facts there is a large body of evidence [00:18:14] that includes testimony from such [00:18:16] experts on fetal pain as professors [00:18:19] Conwell sheet Sonny Anand and Colleen [00:18:21] Malloy in a ten page report submitted to [00:18:24] a federal court and accepted as expert [00:18:26] testimony Professor Anan wrote it is my [00:18:28] opinion that the human fetus possesses [00:18:31] the ability to experience pain from 20 [00:18:34] weeks of gestation if not earlier and [00:18:36] the pain perceived by a fetus is [00:18:39] possibly more intense than that [00:18:41] perceived by term newborns or older [00:18:44] children dr. Anand does not wish to be [00:18:46] drawn into the abortion debate but his [00:18:48] testimony stands dr. Malloy of [00:18:51] Northwestern University Feinberg School [00:18:53] of Medicine has testified before [00:18:55] committees in both the House and the [00:18:57] Senate she stated quote there is ample [00:19:00] biologic physiologic hormonal and [00:19:03] behavioral evidence for fetal and [00:19:05] neonatal pain many authors have [00:19:08] substantiated that pain receptors are [00:19:10] present and linked by no later than 20 [00:19:13] weeks post fertilization end quote [00:19:16] advocates of abortion tried to deny that [00:19:19] unborn children killed in late abortions [00:19:21] feel pain but they are the ones dabbling [00:19:24] in junk science now is the time to end [00:19:27] cruel abortions on later babies babies [00:19:30] unlaid abortions for babies who can feel [00:19:32] pain mr. tony Perkins Family Research [00:19:37] Council [00:19:40] Thank You senator Graham I want to first [00:19:42] thank you for your consistent leadership [00:19:45] on this well on all the issues of life [00:19:49] and we appreciate your leadership in the [00:19:50] Senate senator Langford thank you want [00:19:53] to thank senator Ernst as well for [00:19:55] adding her voice to this issue and the [00:19:59] life issue in general like as has been [00:20:02] pointed out this is not rocket science a [00:20:04] baby at five months in utero feels pain [00:20:08] has been pointed out the child was [00:20:10] undergoing a corrective medical [00:20:12] procedure either outside the womb or [00:20:15] inside the womb they would be given [00:20:17] anesthesia what is happening here in [00:20:20] America is inhumane it's been mentioned [00:20:24] that our country is in a scandalous [00:20:25] League of Nations when it comes to the [00:20:28] treatment of unborn children if America [00:20:32] wants to draw the stink shion's between [00:20:34] itself and rogue nations like North [00:20:36] Korea I would suggest this is a good [00:20:39] place to start and the Senate should [00:20:42] take up and pass without delay the pain [00:20:45] capable unborn child protection act and [00:20:49] I look forward to seeing the president [00:20:51] who is committed to this signing it into [00:20:53] law and President Trump is fully behind [00:20:58] this idea mr. quigley susan b anthony [00:21:00] list thank you senator Graham I'm the [00:21:04] communications director for susan b [00:21:06] anthony list my name is Mallory Quigley [00:21:07] we're so grateful to Senator Graham for [00:21:09] his continued leadership on this our [00:21:11] message is simple our country is so much [00:21:14] better than allowing barbaric late-term [00:21:18] abortions after 20 weeks that's why 20 [00:21:21] seats have already taken their own [00:21:23] initiative and enacted their own version [00:21:26] of the pain capable unborn child [00:21:27] protection act which some are calling [00:21:28] Mika's law after that little boy that [00:21:30] Senator Ernst mentioned he was here in [00:21:33] 2015 with Senator Graham the last time [00:21:36] that this bill was introduced [00:21:37] he's the five-year-old boy I just saw [00:21:39] him last week he's just heard at [00:21:41] kindergarten [00:21:42] a majority of Americans including women [00:21:46] young people Hispanics even a third of [00:21:49] all Democrats support this legislation [00:21:52] and want to protect baby [00:21:53] like Micah the susan b anthony lists [00:21:56] made public today polling that we [00:21:58] commissioned just after the election and [00:22:00] it shows that a majority of voters in [00:22:02] 2018 battleground states also support [00:22:04] this bill and are significantly less [00:22:07] likely to vote for a senator who votes [00:22:10] in favor of keeping to keep allowing [00:22:13] late term abortions on demand in this [00:22:15] country it's time for the pro-life [00:22:17] majority in the senate to bring up this [00:22:18] bill for a vote Democratic senators [00:22:21] especially those who are up for [00:22:22] re-election in 2018 have a real [00:22:25] opportunity here they can either stand [00:22:27] with their pro-life constituents among [00:22:29] whom this legislation is incredibly [00:22:30] popular or they can stand with Planned [00:22:32] Parenthood and the abortion Lobby and [00:22:34] continue to allow the barbarism of late [00:22:37] term abortion on demand either way susan [00:22:39] b anthony les will make sure that their [00:22:40] constituents know how they voted [00:22:42] congress has a clear mandate on this [00:22:45] legislation it's time to protect babies [00:22:47] at this point in pregnancy Micah's law [00:22:49] is very much overdue miss aderholt from [00:22:53] Concerned Women for America Thank You [00:22:57] senator Graham good morning my name is [00:22:59] Caroline aderholt and I'm honored to be [00:23:01] here on behalf of Concerned Women for [00:23:03] America today in hospitals across [00:23:05] America if a doctor performs and in [00:23:08] utero surgery on a 20 week old unborn [00:23:11] child the standard protocol as mentioned [00:23:14] for a child is to be treated as a [00:23:16] patient not just a blob of tissue that [00:23:19] child would be given an injection of [00:23:21] pain medication before the surgery and [00:23:23] this is above and beyond the anesthesia [00:23:25] given to the mother before the surgery [00:23:27] these babies have demonstrated to [00:23:30] medical experts that they respond to [00:23:32] painful stimuli because they flinch and [00:23:34] they recoil from sharp objects modern [00:23:37] technology and medical protocol demands [00:23:40] that we offer and pass this legislation [00:23:42] to protect the most vulnerable among us [00:23:45] it's time for the United States to leave [00:23:48] the company of North Korea and China and [00:23:50] join the other 198 countries that have [00:23:54] ended the archaic procedure of late term [00:23:56] abortions across the world we look [00:23:59] forward to working with the co-sponsors [00:24:01] of this bill to make it the law in the [00:24:03] land thank you for being here today [00:24:05] finally a Miss Foster from Americans [00:24:08] United for life good morning my name is [00:24:13] Katherine Glen Foster I am president and [00:24:15] CEO of Americans United for life [00:24:17] AUL was very encouraged by the House of [00:24:20] Representatives passage of the Payne [00:24:22] capable unborn child Protection Act on [00:24:25] Tuesday and we are delighted that [00:24:27] Senator Graham and his colleagues have [00:24:29] introduced the act today here in the [00:24:31] Senate not only does this legislation [00:24:34] provide legal protections for the unborn [00:24:37] child who can feel pain but it also [00:24:40] protects mothers from the increased [00:24:44] risks associated with late term [00:24:47] abortions research shows that a woman [00:24:51] seeking an abortion at 20 weeks or five [00:24:54] months is 35 times more likely to die [00:24:58] from an abortion than if she had sought [00:25:01] that abortion in the first trimester [00:25:03] this risk continues to increase [00:25:06] exponentially as the pregnancy [00:25:08] progresses due both to the development [00:25:11] and growth of the unborn child and the [00:25:14] changes that take place in the woman's [00:25:16] body in preparation for delivery this is [00:25:21] a common-sense humanitarian law one that [00:25:26] 8 and 10 Americans agree with as studies [00:25:29] have shown that 8 and 10 Americans [00:25:32] believe that there should be significant [00:25:34] restrictions on abortion after the first [00:25:36] trimester we at Americans United for [00:25:40] life applaud senator Graham majority [00:25:44] leader McConnell and Senate leaders like [00:25:46] Senator Langford and Senator Ernst for [00:25:49] passing or for introducing this very [00:25:52] important legislation that will protect [00:25:54] both mothers and their unborn children [00:25:57] thousands of them every year thank you [00:26:03] any questions right well I expect the [00:26:13] bill to pass with 60 votes over the arc [00:26:15] of time as we per se persuade more and [00:26:18] more Americans were in the wrong Club to [00:26:22] the pro-life community and any other [00:26:24] community out there on the conservative [00:26:26] side Democrats have been more in charge [00:26:29] of this place than we have by factor of [00:26:31] about three senator Blumenthal has [00:26:33] legislation that would undo everything [00:26:36] we've accomplished at the state level in [00:26:38] terms of waiting periods counseling [00:26:40] notifications so my view is that the [00:26:43] best way to protect the pro-life issue [00:26:47] and to pass this bill is to build [00:26:50] consensus and get 60 votes not turn the [00:26:54] Senate into the house because anything [00:26:56] we can do they can do and I can tell you [00:26:59] during the Obama years there's a pretty [00:27:01] radical pro-abortion agenda that will [00:27:04] stop time and time again because of the [00:27:06] 60-vote requirement [00:27:14] well they're exceptions in the bill for [00:27:17] pregnancy as a result of rape and incest [00:27:19] and medical necessity to save the life [00:27:22] of the mother at the end of the day what [00:27:24] we're trying to do is stop the practice [00:27:26] of abortion on demand at 20 weeks and [00:27:28] believe it or not it is a problem [00:27:30] believe it or not there are thousands of [00:27:33] these cases every year there's a reason [00:27:35] a hundred and ninety eight countries [00:27:37] have gone a different way [00:27:38] the question that I think Jim brought up [00:27:40] is who are we as Americans we can have [00:27:43] debates about the right to to an [00:27:46] abortion and the first trimester that [00:27:49] debate will continue but here's the one [00:27:51] thing I hope we can agree upon there [00:27:53] comes a point to where you're not [00:27:57] advancing any worthy cause and what is [00:28:00] the worthy cause if you if you take off [00:28:03] the table that the choice between the [00:28:06] baby and the mother's life which is a [00:28:08] difficult choice you exclude rape and [00:28:11] incest pregnancies which are rare but do [00:28:13] occur then what worthy cause has been [00:28:16] advanced to have abortions on demand in [00:28:21] the fifth month when medical science [00:28:23] tells us that a baby feels pain to the [00:28:26] extent that you can't operate them [00:28:28] operate on the baby without an [00:28:30] anesthesia [00:28:30] why would a doctor provide anesthesia to [00:28:33] the baby not just the mother because [00:28:35] most doctors don't want to hurt the [00:28:36] child and that's where science has taken [00:28:39] us the law and science are not connected [00:28:42] here and I would say our values as a [00:28:44] nation are out of sort with who we real [00:28:47] are as a people all right one more [00:28:55] uh-huh [00:28:59] well we'll take we'll consider anything [00:29:02] that's practical and that this is an [00:29:04] effort to basically do away with a bill [00:29:08] by scenarios that are not realistic then [00:29:11] we're not gonna go down that road I [00:29:12] don't really know the details of the [00:29:14] debate you're talking about I know we [00:29:15] had a good vote in the house but our [00:29:17] goal is fairly simple is to inform the [00:29:20] American people where we stand visa vie [00:29:22] the world where we stand in terms of [00:29:25] medical science and challenge the [00:29:29] American people through the political [00:29:30] process to get involved and speak up and [00:29:33] I'll make a prediction it took us about [00:29:36] 15 years to deal with a partial-birth [00:29:39] abortion issue we're at 20 states have [00:29:42] already passed a pain capable bill at [00:29:44] the state level and I'm very excited [00:29:47] about the the legal debate to come [00:29:49] because what's so important about this [00:29:52] bill not only does it get us right with [00:29:54] the the world and right with just human [00:29:56] decency [00:29:57] I think it expands the law in a very [00:29:59] necessary way under row v Wade there is [00:30:03] only one area that the governmental [00:30:07] entities have in protecting the unborn [00:30:09] child and that's the point of medical [00:30:11] viability now would argue that medical [00:30:13] viability in 1973 and 2017 are totally [00:30:16] different so there's a Savannah Duke is [00:30:19] watching at home a 17 year old high [00:30:21] school student from Spartanburg who was [00:30:24] discovered missing a leg and having some [00:30:26] problems at the 20-week period and some [00:30:30] Savannah has a one leg and a big heart [00:30:33] and doing good in school so all I would [00:30:36] say about medical science it is [00:30:38] advancing and the law needs to advance [00:30:40] also so my yeah one less okay that we [00:30:46] got about [00:30:56] we got three votes from our democratic [00:30:59] friends last time the more you educate [00:31:03] the more you vote the larger the number [00:31:05] gets we're marching towards sixty [00:31:08] because the reasoning against this [00:31:10] doesn't withstand common-sense scrutiny [00:31:13] it's out of sync with the science [00:31:16] science is on our side [00:31:17] I think basic human decency is on our [00:31:20] side and as to the Republican leadership [00:31:23] I am a hundred percent confident that [00:31:26] this issue will come to the floor of the [00:31:28] Senate because Mitch McConnell and the [00:31:30] leaders all are behind this bill they [00:31:33] sponsor the bill and to the American [00:31:35] people this is a debate worthy of a [00:31:39] great nation to my Democratic friends [00:31:41] you have every right to oppose this bill [00:31:43] but we have every right to bring it to [00:31:45] the floor and I look forward to a debate [00:31:48] that will make us a better people that [00:31:52] will result overtime in protecting a [00:31:54] child in the fifth month if you're [00:31:57] asking parents from a medical point of [00:32:00] view to sing to that child because at [00:32:03] that stage in development they begin to [00:32:06] recognize who you are what good comes [00:32:10] from abortion on demand how far out of [00:32:16] synch is the law with science if doctors [00:32:20] are encouraging parents to talk to the [00:32:22] baby the law should be encouraging the [00:32:26] birth of the baby thank you