I was excited to see some of the changes that Obama made in his first days in office - signing orders to close Guantanamo and banning all forms of torture. But there are some changes I am not happy to see.
Today, as one of his first acts in office, President Obama lifted the US ban on international funding for abortions around the world. Does this really improve our image in the world?
President Obama has also expressed that he will sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law if it is passed by our Congress. This vote is imminent and if it is passed, it will greatly change the abortion landscape in the US:
1) It is possible that all hospitals, including Catholic hospitals will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals, more then 30% of all hospitals in the United States.
2) This law would wipe away every state restriction on abortion including bans on partial birth abortions and parental notification laws.
3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.
You can go to this web site to express your opposition, but something that I know is even more effective from my animal rights lobbying days is to call your senator or representative: 202-224-3121
Ask to be forwarded to your senators/representative's office and all you have to say is "Hello my name is ___________, I am calling to express my opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act." They will probably ask for your name and zip code and that is all. Phone calls are taken more seriously than letters or postcards so please do this if you have a spare 5 minutes.
This Saturday is the Walk for Life. please keep this march, our senators and representatives who will be voting on this law, as well as our new president in your prayers.
YOU GO GIRL!!! I'm going to copy your paragraph with the phone number on it and put it on a number of Catholic blogs.
ReplyDeletethis is so disheartning...requiring someone to perform an abortion??? What the hell
ReplyDeleteActually, it seems that no one will be required to perform anything they don't want to:
ReplyDelete"Would FOCA force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions?
Unequivocally no, says Jill Morrison, senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center. Federal conscience clause law, such as the Church Amendment, states that simply receiving public funding does not turn a hospital into a "state actor," Morrison explains. "FOCA must be read consistently with existing federal law, unless the new law explicitly provides that it is intended to repeal existing law."
Morrison adds, "A hospital is not a state actor, and cannot be magically transformed into one due to its getting Federal funding, as set forth in the Church Amendment.""
FOCA would not outright lead to closing of hospitals but it would overturn "conscience" protections that allow hospitals and health care providers that receive public funds to decline to perform an abortion.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, FOCA is very vaguely worded and the details are going to be left up to the courts.
I did change the wording in my blog from "most likely" to "possibly" because after reading more that seems to be more accurate!