James Smith has been a true abortion radical throughout his career, voting multiple times against bills to prohibit abortions performed after 20 weeks[1]. But Smith didn’t stop there. In June 2015, during debate on a bill to prohibit abortions performed after 20 weeks, Smith proposed dozens of extreme amendments designed to weaken the bill, including several that would have included assertions that an unborn child cannot experience pain[2].
Smith’s amendments claimed that:
- “There is very little medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by twenty weeks after fertilization. the bulk of medical evidence is to the contrary.”[3]
- “The unborn child remains in a coma-like sleep state that precludes the unborn child experiencing pain.”[4]
- “A response to noxious events is not the same … consciousness is necessary to experience pain.”[5]
- “Neural circuits necessary to differentiate pain from sensation are not developed in an unborn child until thirty-five weeks of age.”[6]
To say these assertions are untrue would be an understatement. These claims represent the supercharged extremism of James Smith and the abortion-loving left.
[1] (H.4223, Roll Call Vote #1192, Passage, Adopted 84-29, 3/19/14, Smith Voted Nay; House Journal, p. 32; H.3114, Roll Call Vote #1474, Passage, Adopted 79-29, 5/17/16, Smith Voted Nay; House Journal, p. 68)
[2] (House Journal, 2/3/15, p. 25-76)
[3] (Amendment No. 2A to H. 3114, 2/3/15, House Journal, p. 25-76)
[4] (Amendment No. 3A to H. 3114, 2/3/15, House Journal, p. 25-76)
[5] (Amendment No. 4A to H. 3114, 2/3/15, House Journal, p. 25-76)
[6] (Amendment No. 4A to H. 3114, 2/3/15, House Journal, p. 25-76)