In 1986, the state of Missouri enacted an anti-abortion statute proclaiming that “[t]he life of each human being begins at conception” and that “unborn children have protectable interests in life, health and wellbeing.”
By the power of the legislation, the state of Missouri placed a limit on the number of abortions that could be performed and restricted the ability of state employees to participate in abortions.
In the majority decision of the subsequent Supreme Court case, Webster versus Reproductive Health Services, Chief Justice William Rehnquist stated that “[t]he Court has emphasized that Roe v. Wade implies no limitation on the authority of a State to make a value judgment favoring childbirth over abortion.”
For pro-life Americans, the decision of the Court on July 3, 1989 was a major victory against Roe v. Wade. For those in favor of abortion, the decision marks the beginning of the Freedom of Choice Act.
FOCA, or H.R. 1964 if you happen to be wading through the Library of Congress records for the 110th Congress, is a bill intended to retroactively eliminate all U.S. anti-abortion laws on the theory that they prohibit interstate commerce.
Confused? I was too until I read H.R. 1964. Then I realized that FOCA is a desperate move to undermine a relatively conservative Supreme Court.
The barons of death on the left of the aisle have come to the conclusion that the only way to allow partial birth abortion, prevent “the inequity” of parental consent for minors and forever “codify Roe v. Wade” is to eliminate all laws pertaining to abortion.
If you are still confused on what this has to do with interstate commerce, the grim reapers on the left can explain. They claim that state provisions prohibiting abortion in any way are a violation of the 14th Amendment, wherein a state shall not “make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” By this obtuse line of thought, state laws prohibiting the production or transit of abortion medical supplies are grossly infringing on a woman’s right to choose death for her unborn child. As a result, the only possible solution is to eliminate every law on the books even remotely related to abortion.
Barack and company explain that because Roe v. Wade has given every American woman the right to an abortion, no state should make the process of obtaining one more difficult.
Furthermore, FOCA speaks of the dangers of failing to codify abortion into American law. It even claims that this is an economic issue, saying that “[t]he ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.”
I’m sorry, but I am struggling to see the connection between reproductive freedom and economic activity. Maybe someone can help me here, but I recall my eighth grade teacher giving me English lessons up to a week before her delivery – clearly it must have been a medical anomaly.
In essence, FOCA is nothing more than a perverse piece of socialist fodder which claims to protect our rights. If enacted, FOCA will strike down parental notification laws for minors, eliminate abortion wait periods and education materials, and potentially close down 30 percent of the nation’s hospitals. The American Catholic Bishops have said that if FOCA forces even one abortion to be performed in a Catholic hospital – a potential effect of the legislation – the Bishops will shut them all down.
So, Mr. Obama, are you going to keep your promise to Planned Parenthood and send us toward “liberation” or can just a little bit of common sense remain in Washington?
