Freedom of Choice Act

I hate being controversial. I really do. But when something comes up that endangers millions of lives, our constitutional rights, and the well being of our nation, and it is trying to come to birth without most of the nation even realizing it until it's too late... I can't be silent. The Freedom of Choice Act has been in the works since the 1980s, and Obama promised during his campaign that he would sign it into law if he became president. It will come before congress soon, probably in the next couple of weeks. Here is why the act is dangerous, reckless, and evil:

1. It will legalize partial-birth abortion. For those who don't know, PBA can be done even up to full-term. Labor is induced, the squirming baby is half delivered (they only let half out, because if the rest of the body came out in most states it would be considered a live birth and the baby would be a legally protected citizen of the USA) and then they kill the baby by stabbing the back of the skull with a scissors and sucking the brains out.

2. It will overthrow state laws. Before I even tell you what they are, dwell on that. Our federal government, according to the constitution, has sovereignty over the states in very few and very specific ways. Abortion does not come anywhere close to any of those ways. The federal govt. is attempting to justify this violation of state's rights by saying that abortions are a matter of inter-state commerce (one of those very few things over which the fed. is allowed to regulate), because some women go over state lines to get abortions. If they want to regulate women going across the boarders, then let them make a law about women going across state borders to get abortions. This law is something entirely different. It is yet another example of federal government wielding power that it was never meant to have, setting a precedent for more erosion of state's rights.

5. It will force ALL hospitals and ALL doctors to agree to do abortions. The government wants to force individuals in private business to do a procedure that they find morally reprehensible. This is not justice. This is oppression. The Catholic church has already threatened to close their hospitals if this bill passes and they are required to comply with it. Catholic healtcare providers account for a large segment of our national health care providers. One source I read quoted 30%. Who knows how many doctors will quit rather than perform abortions. Our healthcare system, in short, could take a huge hit, and you better believe the prices will go through the ceiling if it does.

3. It will probably never cost more to have an abortion, though, because... You and I will pay for it! Here in Minnesota, we already do. But if this law goes into effect, everyone in the nation will be helping fund abortions with their tax dollars.

4. Now, for some of the state laws that this bill would overturn:
A. parental notification laws- Not only would a 13 year old girl be able to get an abortion funded largely by tax dollars, her parents wouldn't ever know about it. This is a blatant snub against the role and authority of parents in their children's lives. It is also stupid. The parents don't need to know about a surgery? They don't need to know their child is recovering from something?
B. Laws requiring abortions to be formed by a licensed physician- Are you kidding me? I wouldn't a checkup done by anyone but a licensed physician. As a side note, one of the first reasons for legalizing abortion was that when it was illegal people had to go to someone other than licensed physicians for abortions.
C. Informed consent laws- No longer would women have to be informed about the dangers and possible side effects, or the alternative options, before having an abortion.
D. Laws ensuring that abortion clinics are safe and healthy

The text of FOCA is here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1964: (house version)

and here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1173: (senate version)

Probably the best FOCA issue summary pages are here:

http://www.aul.org/foca

and here:

http://www.nrlc.org/FOCA/LawmakersProposeFOCA.html

The second link includes links to more info.

You can contact your senators and representative. Go to the "My Elected Officials" box on this site:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

You can leave a note on Obama's website about FOCA here:

http://change.gov/open_government/entry/advancing_reproductive_rights_and_health_in_a_new_administration

You can sign a petition against FOCA here:

http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.95/default.asp.

You can pray!

You can also search Facebook for groups about FOCA. I have found three or four.



Below I have pasted the note I wrote to President Elect Obama:

Thank you for your service to our nation. I pray that God will bless you, protect you, and strengthen you for the task.
The Freedom of Choice Act has me deeply concerned. It is illogical from a medical standpoint, as I have never yet had anyone explain to me what makes an embryo a non-human. Any of their individual "deficiencies" (size, dependence on another, mental capacity, etc.) are present in some fully grown humans.
I have also never understood how one being can be considered a part of the body of another being with different DNA. No biologist would buy that.
We both know that less than 1% of abortions are done to save a woman's life. So let's keep abortion legal- but only for those cases where the woman's life is truly in danger.
All of these things aside, there are reasons I would be concerned about FOCA even if I were pro-choice.
1. It ignores the authority of parents in the life of their daughters. What other surgery could be performed without the parents even knowing about it?
2. It ignores the best interest of patients. The pharmeceutical community has pushed the envelope in speed talking in recent years with their radio commercials because of all the disclaimers they must include, even for relatively benign side effects. How can we possibly let women go into a surgery with no knowledge of the procedure and possible risks and side effects? This bill would also strike down useful laws requiring abortions to be performed by licensed physicians in sanitary clinics. Wasn't that the driving reason for legalizing abortion in the first place?
3. It violates the sovereignty of the states, as granted to them by the constitution that later today you will swear to uphold. This bill is a flagrant attempt by the federal government to pit its strength against the authority of the states. The guise that this law is appropriate because of interstate commerce is, to put it crudely, lame. It would strike down hundreds of state laws that have nothing to do with interstate commerce.
4. It violates the freedom of hospitals and individual doctors. Not all of them will stand for that. As I am sure you are aware, Catholic hospitals are planning to close if this bill passes. This will be good for neither our economy nor our healthcare system.

I pray that you think long and carefully about this topic before you vote. God has given you great responsibility, and I pray you bear it well.