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Prior to yesterday’s House vote on health care reform, Representative Chris Smith, (R-N.J.), addressed members of Congress saying, “if we truly want to reduce abortion in America, don’t fund it!”In his remarks, the congressmen spoke about abortion’s impact on women. “Abortion not only kills a child, it harms women physically and psychologically and risks significant harm to subsequent children,” he stated. “The mental health of women is damaged, sometimes irreparably, by abortion.”
Rep. Smith then referred to the Times of London who reported that “senior obstetricians and psychiatrists say that new evidence has uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women with no previous history of psychological problems.”
Another study from New Zealand showed that 78% of 15-18 year olds who had abortions faced depression compared with 31% of their peers.
Smith continued, “Numerous studies also show that the risk of pre-term birth of children to women who have previously procured an abortion increases with the number of previous abortions. One abortion increases the risk 35%; two or more abortions increase the risk by a staggering 93%. Prematurity is a leading cause of death and disability in children.”
“If we truly want to reduce abortion in America, don’t fund it!”
The congressmen then cited the Guttmacher Institute, formerly the research arm of Planned Parenthood who notes “that prohibiting federal funds for abortion reduces abortion by 25 percent.”
“Millions of Americans are alive today because public funding did not facilitate their deaths. Millions more will be alive tomorrow if the Stupak/ Pitts amendment is adopted to this bill,” he concluded.
