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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, today we mark four years since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision – the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the question of abortion to the people and their elected representatives.
“Roe was, quite simply, terrible constitutional law – a fact that’s been acknowledged by legal scholars across the political spectrum.
“And the Dobbs decision reversed this decades-old error and made it clear that Roe’s … supposed constitutional right to an abortion simply didn’t exist.
“I’m proud to have fought, along with my Republican colleagues, to put justices on the Supreme Court who focus on interpreting the law and the Constitution – instead of creating new constitutional law out of thin air, as justices did in Roe.
“Mr. President, it’s fitting that the Dobbs decision occurs close to our nation’s birthday – July 4, the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
“And as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration – the 250th birthday of our country – the proximity of these two anniversaries has been on my mind.
“The Declaration lays out the fundamental principles underlying our system of government.
“And no lines are more important than these:
“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“‘… that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“Unalienable rights, Mr. President.
“Rights given by God, rights that come before government, and that government is required to protect.
“‘All men are created equal … [and] endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.’
“Mr. President, as our country knows, to its sorrow, we haven’t always lived up to the principles of the Declaration.
“And the sad truth is that when it comes to unborn Americans, we are failing to live up to those principles today.
“Because in state after state around this country, it is legal to kill unborn human beings – unborn Americans – in some cases up until the point of birth.
“Up until the point of birth, Mr. President.
“These babies – these human beings – will never have the chance to enjoy the rest of their unalienable rights because they are denied their most fundamental right while they’re still in their infancy.
“This is not, of course, something you will hear from my Democrat colleagues when they attempt to defend abortion.
“You won’t hear about the baby whose rights are at stake.
“In fact, my Democrat colleagues do everything they can to obscure the baby in this debate.
“They mention women and ‘health care’ and ‘reproductive freedom’ – as if killing an innocent person could ever be something we’re free to do – and they never mention the other person in question, which is the unborn human being who is sacrificed in every abortion.
“Probably because they know at some level that supporting the killing of an innocent human being is indefensible – and completely incompatible with our nation’s creed.
“And let’s be very clear here, Mr. President.
“When we talk about abortion, we are talking about the killing of a human being.
“Everyone knows this – even my Democrat colleagues know this, although they might like to gloss over the fact.
“You don’t even need to have seen a baby kicking her feet and sucking her thumb on an ultrasound to know that she’s human.
“Because human moms and human dads … have other human beings.
“That’s Biology 101.
“No, Mr. President, the question isn’t whether the unborn baby is a human being – the question is whether we value that human being. Whether we really believe our American creed.
“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life …’
“Do we really believe that, Mr. President?
“Or do we believe that it’s okay to say that some human beings are more important than others?
“That some human beings can be sacrificed for others?
“I would hope history has taught us that it is a very dangerous thing to say that some groups of human beings are not worthy of protection.
“Mr. President, I am proud to be from a state that has extended the full protection of the laws to unborn human beings – that has recognized that unborn Americans are also created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights.
“And I am proud to have supported, sponsored, and co-sponsored pro-life legislation here in Congress.
“The overturning of Roe has opened the door to substantive pro-life legislation – and Republicans in Congress are going to keep up the fight for real protections for unborn Americans.
“I’m very proud that with the Working Families Tax Cuts, Congress enacted the first pro-life law in decades.
“Thanks to Republicans’ landmark legislation, this year some of the nation’s largest abortion providers – including Planned Parenthood – were prohibited from receiving federal Medicaid funding.
“Organizations that have turned the killing of babies into a business were cut off from this source of taxpayer dollars.
“Mr. President, the Dobbs decision was a landmark decision because it opened the door for full protection of the unalienable rights of unborn Americans.
“But there is a lot more work to be done.
“The Democrat Party fights tooth and nail to ensure that even the most commonsense measures – like measures to protect babies who survive abortions, or to ensure pregnant college students are aware that they have alternatives to abortion – do not make it through Congress.
“And currently mail-order abortion drugs are flooding into states – in defiance of the law – thanks to the Biden administration’s decision to loosen restrictions on these drugs, despite the fact that they pose a danger to women – as well as, obviously, to their babies.
“So, as I said, Mr. President, the fight to protect the right to life for all Americans continues.
“And I and my Republican colleagues will continue to do everything we can here in Congress to support moms and to protect babies.
“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
“May the day soon come when we fully live up to that creed.”