FOCA; A License to Kill
By Marcy Stenstrom
The new president has said that one of the first changes he will implement is to make into law the Freedom of Choice Act. (FOCA) I think as Americans we’re all about freedom and making our own choices so perhaps that’s why this bill sounds so attractive. God was the original creator of freedom and choice but it’s got a different name, free will. He also gave us some commandments to steer us in the right direction. I don’t think there is anything too confusing about “Do not kill”. So then just what is the big deal about FOCA?
In short, the Freedom of Choice Act is a bill “to protect a woman’s freedom to chose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy and for other purposes.” (S. 1173) You can go online and use any search engine to find and read about S. 1173 or H.R. 1964 (FOCA) which will be considered for federal legislation. Reading through the bill, I found it to be quite degrading and undermining of the God-given gift of human reproduction. The tone of this bill treats pregnancy like a disease, like a cancer that grows and will inhibit me as a woman climbing my corporate ladder to success and power and money.
The jargon in the bill is so broad and undefined that it will leave the door open to numerous other detrimental side effects to a moral standard of living. For example, the bill would leave the fetal viability decision in the hands of physicians, (stated in paragraph 4). One physician’s criteria for viability may differ dramatically from another’s. This bill puts the measure of life in the hands of doctors and therefore, would make it impossible to maintain set standards on human viability if there even is such a thing. The same sentence of that paragraph says that the bill would allow individual States to ban abortions after fetal viability except to protect the life or health of the woman. The term “after fetal viability” points to late-term or partial birth abortions. The bill sites federal protection in the event that women cross state lines for procedures. It seems to me that it would be pointless for States to decide what bans to enact if the federal government supports the abortion regardless of differing States’ laws.
It is also relevant to point out that the bill fails to define “health”. Would mental stress and anxiety be a qualifier for an abortion? And I doubt that there is a mother-to-be who would rather let their baby die in order to save their own life.
Pregnancy and childbirth has not been the end of my so-called freedom. In fact, it has taught me so many invaluable lessons and life skills about being a woman, a mother, a daughter of Christ, and a sacrifice of my own selfish wants. I have chosen to evaluate the FOCA and break it down so that we can decide together to give God’s grace and freedom to our daughters and granddaughters not yet born.
There’s a “Walgreen’s” and a “Check into Cash” in nearly every town in America. If the Freedom of Choice Act is passed, perhaps we might see abortion clinics pop up between the two, attractively disguised as “Women’s Choice Health Services”.
The Freedom of Choice Act claims that “87 percent of the counties in the United States have no abortion provider,” citing that because of this lack of services “reproductive care for women is extremely difficult if not impossible.” (paragraph 10) But let’s also consider the basic economic principles of the law of supply and demand. If there were a large demand for these services, I think we would already see these “Women’s clinics” in mini-marts and attached to gas stations. If FOCA becomes a law, we are all saying that it’s okay to build this clinic in our city. We’re teaching our daughters that this reaction to pregnancy is acceptable and we have agreed to lower our moral standards.
In paragraph 11, FOCA admits “women should also have more meaningful access to family planning services that prevent unintended pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abortion.” I would guess that no one disagrees with this statement however I think that it’s unfortunate that what should be the central focus (to assist women who may feel unable to cope with an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy) is simply reduced to one sentence tucked away in the middle of a deceiving piece of legislation.
FOCA is a bill for federal protection for women, doctors, and medical suppliers. It will not matter what each State decides for itself because our federal government will be an umbrella to protect women under any circumstance. (paragraph 15) The bill defends this by saying that with no federal protection, “many women cross state lines to obtain abortions and many more would be forced to do so.” (paragraph 15A) But is this really a problem? Is there a mass exile of women driving across the state, congesting our highways? People drive to Canada for cheaper prescription drugs and to Mexico for cheaper surgeries. If we should not discriminate, as FOCA says, it would be logical to pass a bill to assist these people as well. Making a service easier for someone to obtain does not solve financial problems or as with this bill, make it morally correct.
Although FOCA provides a definition of three words; Government, State, and Viability, it does not define many other key terms which enables the bill’s sponsors to lean further towards immorality and a lessening of human dignity for the future. To say that “we will not discriminate” may imply that in the future, our tax dollars would support and fund abortion clinics. It may mean that young girls (minors) have the same capacity as adults and would not need parental consent to have a procedure at the local abortion clinic. It might mean that there would be no questions asked, no information provided to women who act out of fear or anger and obtain an abortion only to regret it because they realize too late the severity of their emotional decision.
You may say that other programs that the government promises to provide are more important like health care, a social security check, more jobs, etc. But these mean nothing if we do not fight for morality. The Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops has provided a memorandum that is an analysis of FOCA from a moral and common sense viewpoint. This is a mandatory read if you have read FOCA and would like an informed response to it. It can be found at: www.usscb.org/prolife/FOCAanalysis.pdf
Send a letter or mail a postcard to our senators and congressmen. You can get names and addresses at Wisconsin Right to Life (www.wrtl.org/FOCA/help.aspx
FOCA may try to eliminate our moral consequences but it cannot eliminate our consciences.