Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Pro Life Caucus, made the following statement on the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which today cleared the Senate and will soon be signed into law by President Bush:

    “Partial birth abortion is but the tip of an ugly and an unseemly iceberg.

    Just below the surface, the surface appeal of choice, is a reality almost too horrific and cruel to contemplate, let alone face. Yet we persist in our illusions and denial, ever enabled by clever marketing, biased news reporting, and the cheap sophistry of choice.

    Let us be clear: abortion is child abuse, and it exploits women. Women deserve better than having their babies stabbed, cut, decapitated, or poisoned. Women deserve nonviolent, life-affirming, positive alternatives to abortion.

    Thirty years after Roe, the national debate about partial birth abortion has finally pierced the multiple layers of euphemisms and collective denial to reveal child battering in the extreme. The cover-up is over, and the dirty secret concerning abortion methods is finally getting the scrutiny that will usher in reform and protective statutes.

    There is nothing compassionate nor benign about stabbing babies in the head with scissors so their brains can be sucked out. In like manner, there is nothing compassionate or benign about other methods of abortion, like injections of chemical poison that burn and blister or dismemberment by suction machines 20 to 30 times more powerful than household vacuum cleaners.

    The loss of children's lives since Roe has been staggering: 44.4 million babies dead. Picture this: A few days ago 56,292 fans packed into Yankee Stadium for the playoffs. The number of children killed since Roe would fill Yankee Stadium to capacity each and every day for 788 days. The shear number of children destroyed is numbing.

    Then there is the terrible toll that abortion imposes on women. A new organization, Silent No More, organized by women who have had abortions, including actress Jennifer O'Neill, shatters the myth that abortion somehow benefits women. ‘We are the face of women exploited,’ they say.

    Women need real love, genuine compassion, and their voice will ultimately be heard.  The cover-up is over.”