WRS is pleased to publish this guest article by Kevin Wright, the Founder/Director of Old Dominion Research Group.  Kevin can be contacted via email here.

The Freedom of Choice Act, also known as FOCA, was most recently introduced in the 110th Congress, and according to the Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the legislation’s chief architect in the House, FOCA will again be introduced “sooner rather than later.� This is an issue that will loom large in the 2010 elections.

FOCA is literally the single most radical legislative effort in recent memory. At first glance, FOCA sounds innocuous enough. It’s supporters contend the legislation would merely codify Roe V. Wade, ensuring that a “woman’s right to choose� will not be eroded. But upon closer examination, it is anything but a codification.

If enacted, FOCA will literally turn on its head over 30-years of work by invalidating approximately 300 local, state and federal laws regulating abortion, past, present and future. FOCA would forever change abortion by making it legal, on-demand anywhere and at anytime, without restriction.

Without restriction? Yes, that means even “mainstream� regulations will be wiped from the books, including:

* Nullify Parental Notification
* Undo Unborn Victims of Violence Legislation
* Reverse the Partial Birth Abortion Ban
* Invalidate the Hyde Amendment and Other Bans on Public Funding
* Quash Protections for Healthcare Workers
* Force Faith-based Hospitals to Perform Abortions

Studies suggest that if these laws are invalidated, the frequency of abortion in the U.S. would increase by approximately 125,000 per year. That is not codification of Roe V. Wade, that’s fundamental change in the regulation of abortion in the U.S.

So how could such a drastic piece of legislation even threaten to become law? Two reasons:

1. Because FOCA is supported by some of the most deep-pocketed liberal organizations in the country, and these organizations have disbursed over $25 million to pro-abortion Congressional candidates and have spent tens of millions more on independent expenditures and get-out-the-vote operations. These organizations have invested a lot of time and money to elect allies to Congress and the Executive Office. Now they expect payback.

2. The pro-abortion movement has had no greater opportunity to push FOCA than now, in the 111th Congress. In the 110th Congress, the last time it was introduced, FOCA legislation had 108 co-sponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate. Democrat numbers have swelled since. Democrats enjoy larger majorities in the House and Senate and have a strong ally in President Barack Obama, the most left-leaning Executive Office since Franklin Roosevelt. Obama, while campaigning for the Democrat nomination, promised Planned Parenthood that FOCA was a top priority and would sign it the moment it crossed his desk. In other words, the time is now for FOCA.

This is bad legislation that must be stopped to protect the rights of taxpayers from footing the bill for abortions, protect the rights of healthcare workers and prevent Catholic hospitals from closing and denying millions of Americans much needed help. Each Representative and each Senator must be made famous for their radical support of abortion, and in many cases FOCA itself.

Tags: Abortion, Freedom of Choice Act, Roe v Wade

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Issues, News Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.