This is one of my many problems with the Freedom of Choice Act...
By katran
@katran (585)
United States
December 1, 2008 1:37am CST
I hope you are all familiar with the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). It is an Act that is solidly supported by president-elect Obama and many other Democrats in the Senate that will effectively overturn every single restriction at the federal, state, and local level that has to do with abortion. That includes parental involvement laws for minors, restrictions on partial-birth abortion, and informed consent laws, among other things. Even if I could live with all that, however, I could not live with the worst thing that the Freedom of Choice Act would do. It would mess with freedom of conscience.
The FOCA would very likely overturn conscience laws for health care providers in forty-six states and conscience laws for institutions in twenty-seven states. It firmly states that there can be no interfering whatsoever with a woman's right to have an abortion, not even in giving information. It is possible, even highly likely, that public hospitals that refuse to perform abortions will be held in breach of the law. It also means that it would be against the law for doctors to tell women about the health risks involved with abortion.
Now, let us assume for a minute that every single one of us agrees that abortion should be legal, partial-birth abortion should be legal, and parents have no right to know whether or not their child is getting an abortion. With all those things considered, do you think it is right that a doctor should have to go against their own morals to perform abortions? Do you think they should be forced to keep information to themselves that weighs on their conscience? Do you think some hospitals should have to shut down rather than submit to the scope of this law?
Freedom of conscience the fundamental and pivotal right in a democracy. If the government can force an individual to do things that go against our beliefs, are we even a democracy anymore? Women have the freedom to have an abortion NOW. Why do we need additional laws that force people to go against their beliefs or be punished for it? I don't understand how anyone can support this bill. It will destroy our democracy.
5 people like this
6 responses
@rodney850 (2145)
• United States
1 Dec 08
Katran,
I'm afraid that this is just the beginning of the atrocities you will see from this administration and the lop-sided majority it has in the congress. Sadly, to coin a cliche', "you ain't seen nothin' yet"! As democracy disappears and socialism becomes our new way of government, many people who voted for "change" will really see what Obama meant when he said that word!
2 people like this
@clrumfelt (5490)
• United States
1 Dec 08
This act undermines parenting at a point when a youth is most in need of parental support and guidance. It is probably a tendency for a girl to hide an unwanted pregnancy from her parents, but she should not be allowed to get an abortion without their knowledge and consent. There are so many things that could go wrong and they parents would not find out about them until it's too late if the child decides to deal with the problem on her own.
@clrumfelt (5490)
• United States
1 Dec 08
Sorry, Rodney, I meant to post that as a general answer and have put in in the wrong place, But I agree with you, there are more atrocities to come and people didn't know what they were asking for when they voted for "change." Sadly, the people who supported Obama will probably continue to do so no matter what kinds of changes he brings about.
1 person likes this
@katran (585)
• United States
1 Dec 08
I sincerely hope that you are wrong, Rodney, but I fear that you may be right. I did not realize just how bad it was going to be until recently. It seems like everything that comes out of Obama's mouth is frightening, and I am really starting to worry about what the next four years hold for us all. I have always been proud to be American, but it seems like the America that I was proud of is in serious danger.
And yes, I do not get how people can say that it is okay to keep abortion a secret from parents. Not only are minors excluded from many of the rights that adults get already, but it is also a dangerous procedure! How would you feel if something went wrong and you get a phone call from a doctor you don't know telling you that your child has complications from a procedure you didn't even know they were getting!? It's absurd. Minors are viewed by the government as not being able to drink, vote, or even watch R-rated movies, and yet they can make a decision like this all on their own!? It makes me wonder what goes on in people's heads.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1 Dec 08
Just another example of how the left forces their views on everyone else. The left only understands force and cares absolutely nothing about freedom, choice or anything else.
It is also majorly unconstitutional... but then again, It's rare to find a lefty that cares anything about the constitution anyway.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1 Dec 08
In other words, he has absolutely no respect for the Constitution in the first place and has no intention of living up to his oath of office.
1 person likes this
@katran (585)
• United States
1 Dec 08
Obama himself said that the constitution is a "living document" and he does not believe in "strict constructionism". In other words, he is more willing to look for loopholes in our rights than to take our nation's law as whole and fact. So...I don't think things like "unconstitutional" mean anything to him, unfortunately. :|
Yeah, I think it is ridiculous how this is called the Freedom of Choice Act when really it is taking away choices. It will take away the choice of doctors and hospitals. It will take away the choice of parents to protect their children. It will even take away the INFORMED choice away from the women, because doctors cannot give them the facts. Freedom of Choice is a ridiculous name for it.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
2 Dec 08
Here is the full text of the Freedom of Choice Bill:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1173
Am I missing something because I see nothing in that text about interfering with freedom of conscience or being forbidden from giving information. I see nothing about anyone being forced to go against their beliefs or be punished for it. It certainly says nothing about some hospitals being forced to shut down.
Annie
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I don't know of any hospital in my area that performs abortions, women who want an abortion have to go to a clinic. Nobody will be forced to perform these services. It's the "freedom of conscience" executive order Bush signed that I have the problem with. It basically means that health care facilities can't discriminate against or discipline any health care worker who refuses any treatment or medication on "moral grounds". This could include birth control, which the Bush Administration has now changed the definition of to state it's a form of abortion, and more notably the "morning after pill" in the case of rape victims. Workers are also not required to give the patients, or in some cases VICTIMS, information about other places they can get the treatment/medication they seek.
Annie
@katran (585)
• United States
2 Dec 08
The problem is in Section 5, Part B - especially part 2. No discrimination of a woman's right to choose by regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information. That means it will be illegal to refuse to provide health benefits and services to a woman who wants to have an abortion. That means that the hundreds upon hundreds of Catholic and other Christian hospitals in the US who refuse to provide abortions on moral grounds are in trouble. Read above and see MSV's example. Some hospitals are already having problems with this, before this oppressive bill even passes!
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
1 Dec 08
I have only heard that Obama supports partial-birth abortion. I do not however because once a baby is born he or she should get cared for. I read a book about Gianna, a lady that managed to survive a saline abortion. She was born in an abortion clinic in the USA when her birth mother was 7 and a half months pregnant. The boss was not around so a nurse got her sent to hospital and they cared for her. Under the Obama law a baby born that the mother wanted to abort would be allowed to die. I think that is horrible. If I had a teenage daughter that was pregnant I would want to give her support. If she was seeking an abortion I would want to know about that. I wonder what kind of person performs abortion because there can't be any job satisfaction. I wish that teenagers got information about birth control, abortion pictures and details, knowledge about pregnancy and an understanding of caring for a baby. I don not agree with the Freedom of Choice Act. I would never have an abortion.
@katran (585)
• United States
1 Dec 08
I would never have an abortion either, and I think it is atrocious how mass murder is condoned by so many in this country, but even if I could live with the legality of abortion, I would not be able to live with FOCA. It is so contrary to everything this nation stands for. I think Obama is showing his true colors more and more every day, and it scares me.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
2 Dec 08
First, there's this:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"
One need go no further than that.
My own story.
My daughter a few years ago, a minor in her early teens, went to family planning unbeknownst to me. She was put on birth control. What she didn't mention was that she was diabetic. For 3 weeks I watched her blood glucose levels do a roller coaster ride that almost landed her in the hospital. After trying to get it under controll and scrambling and staying up nights trying to figure out what the heck was going on, I made an apointment for her. At a doctors apointment with her regular physician, it was finaly relvealed she had been on birth control and that the hormones were affecting how her body used the insulin. Needles to say I was infuriated. I went straight to the family planning office and proceeded to litteraly scream in the face of the stupid bytch who told her it was ok to circumvent the authority of a parent in medical matters and almost kill my daughter.
1 person likes this
@katran (585)
• United States
6 Dec 08
Thank you very much. I don't even know why this bill is allowed to be debated when the states have already made their separate decisions on the matter. The constitution does not give the federal government the right to decide this matter, and if they take away our right to decide they are spitting on the constitution. Even those who are pro-choice should be able to see that much.
I am sorry to hear your story about your daughter. :\ That just goes to show what will happen if the federal government decides they have more authority over a child than that child's parents does. It is downright scary.
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
1 Dec 08
Any doctor who believes abortion is wrong should not be made to perform abortions. It should be the doctor's individual choice as to whether he/she participates in these procedures - the same should apply to all nurses and other staff who might be involved.
I know of a local doctor who is of the Mormon faith, who does not prescribe any form of birth-control because he does not believe in it's use. The same should be true with physicians and abortions.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Dec 08
In every state a patient has the right to be brought to whichever hospital they choose, they can and should request a hospital whose ER staff will accomidate them.
Annie, as I've said before, medicine already covers the questions, the problem is politics muddies up the waters with lies.
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
2 Dec 08
What if a rape victim comes into an ER and the doctors on duty are opposed to giving the morning after pill? Should that rape victim be forced to go unprotected from a pregnancy she knows she doesn't want because of some strangers' personal views?
Annie
