Freedom of Choice Act

OBAMA WILL SIGN THE “FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT”

There were so many issues of concern during this election that it was sometimes hard to focus. One issue that McCain and Obama disagreed on was the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
Obama has stated that one of his first acts as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0__ctD48nfQ

Both sides (pro-choice/pro-life) agree that by signing FOCA Obama will effectively be nullifying all State laws regarding abortion. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life this Act will serve to further erode state’s rights. (My guess is, and I am not an attorney, that if enacted FOCA will be challenged as unconstitutional.)

FOCA (Senate Bill 1173) was sponsored by Sen. Boxer (D-CA) and co-sponsored by 19 other Senators, including Sen. Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Obama (D-IL) in April 2007. The House (HR 1964) resolution was sponsored by Rep. Nadler (D-NY) and co-sponsored by 109 representatives, including four Florida representatives. Copy and paste the link below if you want to view the list of co-sponsors.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01964:@@@P

The title of this Act makes it sound innocuous…Americans like both freedom and choice. But the facts are a little more complicated. Supreme Court decisions in the 1980’s & 1990’s gave the States some powers in limiting abortions. Those limits include, but are not limited to, requiring parental consent and/or notification when minors are trying to get an abortion, providing for informed consent, and prohibiting government funds being used for abortions. Outlawing partial birth abortions was ruled on more recently by the Court.

Family Research Council (http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS08G02) reports: The enactment of a federal Freedom of Choice Act would be a federalist's nightmare, overturning hundreds of state laws that have been enacted through legislation and statewide initiative and ballot referendums. If FOCA is passed, it would automatically overturn:
· State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
· Forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement
· Forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions
· Forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
· Twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions
· Thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortion
· Thirty-three states' laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
· Twenty-eight states' laws requiring a waiting period before an abortion, and
· Sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
Americans United For Life states: “Clearly FOCA will not make abortion safe or rare -- on the contrary, it will actively promote abortion and do nothing to ensure its safety.” http://www.aul.org/FOCA

Another link for info on this Act: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4359.html

I believe that I have presented the facts accurately…if I have made errors please let me know.