WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on a ban on sex-selective abortions, only two days after a pro-life group released footage of a Planned Parenthood counselor cheerfully guiding a potential client through the sex-selection abortion process.
Pro-life House members on Wednesday defended the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) as a commonsense measure to end a practice some studies have shown is on the rise in America, particularly among Asian communities.
“This is the ultimate war on women. If we don’t allow women to be born, we cannot talk about any other rights,” said Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) on the House floor.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) noted that America has become a “destination country” for sex-selection abortions from Canada.
“For most of us, Mr. Speaker, ‘it’s a girl’ is cause for enormous joy, happiness and celebration. But in many countries—including our own—it can be a death sentence,” said Smith.
“Today, the three most dangerous words in China and India are: it’s a girl. We can’t let that happen here.”
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Rep. Steve King (R-IA) brought the point home with the story of World War II veteran Gil Copper, who spent his free time in India standing under a bridge in the Ganges River, “listening for the splash of a little baby girl that would often and regularly be tossed off the bridge and into the river to drown.” Copper would rescue the babies and take them to a Catholic orphanage in New Delhi.
“That culture has arrived here in this country, and this bill puts an end to that kind of culture,” said King.
Several House members also mentioned the newly-released undercover video from Live Action, in which a Planned Parenthood counselor told a potential patient how to abuse Medicaid to get an ultrasound determining whether the baby was a girl, and other advice for a sex-selection abortion. Planned Parenthood fired the employee in the video but confirmed that it is willing to perform abortions based on the baby’s gender.
“In other words, Planned Parenthood is OK with exterminating a child in its huge network of clinics simply because she’s a girl. What a dangerous place for little girls,” said Smith. “Let’s not forget that Planned Parenthood aborts approximately 330,000 children each year. This, Mr. Speaker, is the real war on women.”
PRENDA would not only outlaw sex-selection abortions, but would penalize anyone who coerces or threatens a woman into aborting her daughter.
Kristi Hamrick, a spokewoman for Americans United for Life, pointed to the irony of pro-abortion Democrats accusing Republicans of waging a “war on women” while opposing PRENDA. The Hill notes that Planned Parenthood has meanwhile launched a $1.4 million ad buy supporting President Obama’s re-election and targeting Mitt Romney as having “harmful positions on women’s health” for opposing abortion.
“What we’re trying to do is hold the left accountable for its own rhetoric,” Hamrick told the capital news source.
“The ‘war-on-women’ language begs the question: in a war, who is dying? Sex-selective abortion kills unborn women.”