Is Health Care Reform FOCA in Disguise?

National Right to Life has long maintained that the Obama administration and its allies in Congress would enact FOCA, the extreme Freedom of Choice Act, bit by bit. Kind of a death by a thousand cuts. Health care reform appears to be the opening salvo.

As a Senate Committee marks up its version of health care reform, Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland was forced to admit under questioning by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah that an amendment she offered would include abortion coverage. The committee voted 12-11 to adopt her amendment, with Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania joining Republicans to oppose the amendment.

Yesterday, pro-life Senators offered four amendments which were defeated 12-11 with Casey once again joining the Republicans. The amendments were:

1. An amendment to remove the abortion mandate

2. An amendment to remove the abortion subsidies

3. An amendment to protect state laws limiting abortions and abortion funding from being nullified by federal law under the bill.

4. An amendment that would protect the conscience rights of health care workers.

Sound a little bit like FOCA?

Doug Johnson of NRLC said: “These bills contain provisions that will result in mandates that virtually all health plans pay for abortion and that virtually all health networks establish abortions providers. They will provide federal funding for abortion on demand and nullify state laws regulating abortion.”

Sounding a lot like FOCA!!!

The time for action is now. You can make a huge difference by contacting your federal legislators TODAY!

ACTION NEEDED:

• Go to the National Right to Life Legislative Action Center here Use the form there to send messages to Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and to your own representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. Urge them to oppose any federal “health care reform” legislation that does not explicitly exclude abortion. When you fill in your mailing address, you messages will be automatically sent to the appropriate U.S. House member and to our two U.S. Senators, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold.
• In addition, please TELEPHONE the offices of your two U.S. Senators, give your name and address, and tell the senators’s staff persons that you wish to be recorded as “opposed to Senator Kennedy’s health care bill because it contains numerous pro-abortion mandates. The offices of any U.S. Senator can be reached through 202-224-3121. Also, please TELEPHONE the office of your U.S. House member, give you name and address, and inform the staff person that you wish to be recorded as “opposed to the House Democratic Leadership health care reform bill because it contains many pro-abortion mandates.” You can reach any House member’s office through 202-225-3121. If you do not know who your House member is, giving your name and address will allow your message to go to the appropriate House member.

Barbara Lyons