Residents urged to write politicians over FOCA

Many Americans agree — regardless of political orientation — that reducing the overall number of abortions is a worthy goal. However, legislation exists in Congress that would threaten the fragile common ground that has been achieved so far on the issue of abortion.

The Freedom of Choice Act (or FOCA; S.1173 in the Senate and H.R. 1964 in the House) would allegedly " … protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman's freedom to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy." In fact, FOCA would go way beyond codifying Roe v. Wade by eliminating many sensible restrictions on abortion that most Americans support, like parental notification for minors seeking to have an abortion, and bans on late-term and partial-birth abortion procedures.

As a pro-life Democrat, I have written my senators and representative in Congress, as well as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, expressing my opposition to FOCA and asking them to reconsider their sponsorship of this extreme and unnecessary legislation. Concerned citizens who believe in maintaining sensible restrictions on abortion should do likewise.
Eddie Konczal
Monroe Township