What Is FOCA

"The Freedom of Choice Act. It sounds so innocuous. In reality, it's one of the most deadly pieces of legislation ever devised.

“The heart of the bill,” says National Right to Life Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, “is a ban that would nullify all of the major types of pro-life laws that the Supreme Court has said are permissible under Roe v. Wade, including the ban on partial-birth abortions and bans on government funding of abortion.”

Let's look at some of the wording of FOCA, as it was introduced last year in the Senate:

“A government may not (1) deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose – (A) to bear a child; (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or (2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.

This act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, penalty, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before or after the date of enactment of this act.” Text of H.R. 1964 and S. 1173, introduced on April 19, 2007.

Essentially, states would not be able to regulate or restrict abortion in any way. Any laws already on the books that limit abortion would immediately be null and void.

Just think — parental notice, informed consent, abortion reporting, regulation of abortion clinics, conscience protection laws for health care providers and institutions, the ban on partial-birth abortions, and restrictions on federal funding of abortion — would fall by the wayside. Every victory we have worked for would be undone.

And the exploitation of helpless babies and their vulnerable mothers would increase exponentially.