HYDE-SMITH VOWS PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES ‘WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING’ TO PROTECT UNBORN CHILDREN, MOTHERS
Senate Pro-Life Caucus Chair Pays Tribute to National March for Life, First in New Pro-Life Era
VIDEO: Senator Hyde-Smith Delivers a Speech Advocating the Pro-Life Movement.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, today vowed that pro-life advocates “will never stop fighting” to protect unborn children and their mothers as the nation moves forward after the demise of Roe v. Wade.
Hyde-Smith and several other members of the caucus delivered floor speeches Tuesday to commemorate the 2023 March for Life, the 50th such demonstration but the first since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mississippi’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“This past Friday, tens of thousands of pro-life Americans came to Washington, D.C., to march for the 50th consecutive year, to be a voice to the voiceless. They marched because the pro-life movement did not end with the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer. They marched because the end of Roe v. Wade represents a new beginning,” Hyde-Smith said.
“As we move on from this year’s March for Life and into a post-Roe era, we will never rest and we will never stop fighting, until every unborn child is protected under our laws from the lethal violence of abortion,” she said.
Hyde-Smith contrasted the views of the pro-abortion industry with the pro-life movement, criticizing the “millions of dollars of political advertising spent to promote lies and fearmongering about the pro-life movement and pro-life laws, and that try to pit unborn children against their mothers.”
“The issue of abortion gets to the heart about what it means to be human. Who counts as one of us? Why can brutally killing a baby before birth be justified simply because the baby is inconvenient, imperfect, unwanted, unplanned, or dependent on her mother?” Hyde-Smith asked. “Rather than answer these questions about the humanity of the child in the womb—the child sucking her thumb, the child whose heart is beating, and the child whose sonogram pictures are cherished as proof of life— the abortion industry wants you to look away from the baby.”
Hyde-Smith also indicated her intent to reintroduce the SAVE Moms and Babies Act, a measure to reverse Food and Drug Administration actions to dramatically broaden access to do-it-yourself abortion medication.
U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) joined Hyde-Smith in delivering pro-life speeches.
Read Hyde-Smith’s floor speech, as prepared for delivery, below:
Mr. President, this past Friday, tens of thousands of pro-life Americans came to Washington, D.C., to march for the 50th consecutive year, to be a voice to the voiceless. They marched because the pro-life movement did not end with the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer. They marched because the end of Roe v. Wade represents a new beginning.
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Mississippi’s Dobbs case, for the first time in 50 years, the fate of the lives of millions of unborn children now rests not in the hands of unelected Federal judges, but in the American people and their elected representatives.
I am grateful for the more than a dozen States that have answered the call, including my state of Mississippi, where babies in the womb are now legally protected, even at their earliest and most vulnerable stages.
But the fight for life also continues here in our nation’s capital, and here in the U.S. Senate.
That’s why it makes sense that this year, the March for Life’s route ended not at the U.S. Supreme Court as in years past, but here in Congress.
As the chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, I am committed to fight for compassionate legislation to protect unborn children and their mothers. We will be a firewall against the radical abortion agenda of Senate Democrats and hold the Biden administration accountable for its reckless and illegal pro-abortion policies.
The contrast could not be clearer.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would guarantee the same basic medical care to babies who are born alive after an attempted abortion as would be given to any other baby born in any other circumstance. I am appalled that 210 House Democrats voted against this humane legislation. Apparently, even infanticide is no longer a bridge too far.
In addition, this month the Biden administration’s FDA rubber stamped the reckless distribution of chemical abortion drugs by mail and telemedicine, as well as retail pharmacies, without ever seeing a doctor in person. This decision turns retail pharmacies and post offices into abortion clinics.
The FDA’s action provides no safeguards to screen by ultrasound for dangerous ectopic pregnancies, and abandons pregnant women to suffering life-threatening complications alone. These can include severe bleeding, infection, potential surgical intervention, and even death.
The FDA’s promotion of dangerous do-it-yourself abortions is not only unsafe, it is illegal.
Specifically, the decision violates longstanding federal criminal laws that clearly prohibit the mailing of abortion drugs. This decision puts the profits and political agenda of the abortion industry over the science and clear evidence that abortion drugs present grave dangers to pregnant mothers and, certainly, their unborn babies.
Later this week, I will introduce the SAVE Moms and Babies Act to reverse the FDA’s reckless and illegal action, and at minimum restore the basic health and safety requirements for these dangerous abortion drugs—which should never have been approved.
The issue of abortion gets to the heart about what it means to be human. Who counts as one of us? Why can brutally killing a baby before birth be justified simply because the baby is inconvenient, imperfect, unwanted, unplanned, or dependent on her mother?
Rather than answer these questions about the humanity of the child in the womb—the child sucking her thumb, the child whose heart is beating, and the child whose sonogram pictures are cherished as proof of life— the abortion industry wants you to look away from the baby.
Over the past year, we have witnessed millions of dollars of political advertising spent to promote lies and fearmongering about the pro-life movement and pro-life laws, and that try to pit unborn children against their mothers.
As a mother, a woman, and a Senator, I know we must refute these lies, because each unborn child is not a threat, but a blessing, a unique and unrepeatable individual created in the image of God.
In addition, the pro-life movement cares for both pregnant moms and their unborn babies. More than 2,700 pregnancy centers across the country provide critical medical and material support for women and families facing unplanned pregnancies.
Several of my colleagues have already introduced commonsense measures to support pregnant moms and families, including through pregnancy centers.
As we move on from this year’s March for Life and into a post-Roe era, we will never rest and we will never stop fighting, until every unborn child is protected under our laws from the lethal violence of abortion.
I yield the floor.
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