Photo of Micah Pickering at age 22 weeks. Today he's a healthy kindergartner.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House passed a measure Tuesday meant to protect babies 20 weeks along in development from being aborted.
Imagine, if you can, that you are a pro-choice obstetrician/gynecologist like I was. Using a Sopher 13" clamp with rows of ridges or teeth, you grasp anything you can inside the womb. Once you've grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard-really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about six inches long. Reach in again and grasp anything you can...and out pops an arm. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs.
Thus was the testimony former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino gave before a Congressional committee as they considered the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
Levatino should know. He says over the years he performed 1200 abortions and committed over 100 late-term abortions on babies up to 24 weeks along in development.
Tuesday, two years after the late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell was convicted of murder, the U.S. House passed the Act with the full support of Illinois' Republican U.S. House delegation.
Representatives Peter Roskam (IL-06), John Shimkus (IL-15), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), Rodney Davis (IL-13), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Darin LaHood (IL-18) and Mike Bost (IL-12) released the following statement:
Henry Hyde championed the rights of the unborn through the Hyde Amendment, which expressly prohibits federal funding for abortions. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2005 to 2014, the infant mortality rate in the United States dropped 15 percent. Much of this progress can be attributed to technological advancements in medicine that gives children born prematurely and with various medical issues a fighting chance. H.R. 36 protects children like Micah Pickering who was born at 22 weeks and is a thriving toddler today. Read his story here.
Then the delegation used the opportunity to once again criticize Republican Governor Rauner for signing into law a measure that would cause Illinois taxpayers to pay for low-income and state employee abortions for any reason, at any time - including post 20 weeks, when scientists say preborn infants can feel pain.
The delegation's statement:
In a reversal of long-standing Illinois policy, Governor Rauner has let down Illinois taxpayers and the unborn by signing H.B. 40. Today, the Illinois delegation stands together in our support of H.R. 36 to protect human life.”
H.R. 36, "The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," recognizes that unborn babies as young as 20 weeks have pain receptors all over their skin in a concentration equal to or greater than that of adult skin. This bill was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks and provides exceptions for the mother's life or health and for victims of rape and incest, the Liberty Counsel reports.
A physician that performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception must comply with specified requirements. A violator is subject to criminal penalties-a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.
Now 5 years old, Matthew Pickering (pictured above) and his parents met with Congressman Randy Hultgren at the U.S. Capitol this week:
