Cole Votes to Protect the Unborn

Statement

Washington, D.C. -- Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04), a member of the Pro-Life Caucus, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3755. Although the legislation purports to simply codify in statute the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, it would in practice preempt any state laws regarding the protection of unborn life. Cole voted against the legislation.

"Make no mistake. H.R. 3755 is an abortion-on-demand bill masked by Democrats as legislation to strengthen women's healthcare," said Cole. "If enacted into law, this bill would effectively remove the rights of individual states to pass laws to protect the lives of unborn children. Indeed, this bill represents the greatest threat to defending innocent life that we have seen in the past 50 years.

"Instead of allowing commonsense regulations to protect the unborn, every single state in the country would be required to allow abortion on demand at any time up to the point of birth. States would also no longer be allowed to protect the conscience rights of Americans, to ban certain barbaric procedures such as dismemberment abortion or to prevent sex-selective abortions or abortions targeting fetuses with Down Syndrome, which 70 percent of Americans oppose.

"Defending life, particularly for the most vulnerable among us, is one of my highest priorities as a Member of Congress. As enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life is one of those unalienable rights endowed by our Creator. It is with that in mind that I strenuously oppose this bill and urge Democrats to change course."

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