WASHINGTON -- Chris Smith, one of Congress’ most outspoken abortion opponents, called President Obama “the abortion president” today on the House floor as he spoke about the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
“Someday future generations will look back on America and wonder how and why such a seemingly enlightened society, so blessed and endowed with education, advanced science, information, wealth and opportunity could have failed to protect the innocent and the inconvenient,” Smith, a Republican from Mercer County, New Jersey, said in a speech that mirrored comments he made at an earlier press conference. “They will wonder how and why a Nobel Peace Prize-winning president could also simultaneously have been the abortion president.”
Smith, whose district, until recently, included a portion of Burlington County, said Planned Parenthood is Obama’s “favorite organization” and that the insurance provided under the president’s health care law will help cover many more abortions.
He called Roe v. Wade an “infamous, reckless and inhumane abandonment of women and babies to abortionists” and said it has allowed “40 years of government sanctioned violence against women and children.”
“History, Mr. Speaker, will not look favorably on today’s abortion culture,” Smith concluded. “We must indeed and instead work tirelessly to replace it with a culture of life."
Earlier in the day, President Obama had released this statement on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade:
"We reaffirm its historic commitment to protect the health and reproductive freedom of women across this country and stand by its guiding principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters, and women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care. Today and every day, my Administration continues our efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, and minimize the need for abortion."