FOCA Back in Focus

Representative Jerrold Nadler D-NY wants to put the Freedom of Choice Act back on the table in Congress.

The Freedom of Choice Act is on the move again. Failing to get out of committee in 2004, FOCA has sat dormant until now. Representative Jerrold Nadler wants to get it back on the table, now that there is an abortion advocate in the White House. FOCA is designed with the following in mind:

To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman's right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes. (Library of Congress)

What this means is that FOCA is designed to finally create a law that supports Roe v. Wade. Instead of relying on the Supreme Court's decision to create law, Congress would step up to the plate and actually take a swing at creating the law.

In recent statements by leaders in the Catholic church, they indicate that the church would close its hospitals, rather than face the possibility of requiring those hospitals to perform abortions under FOCA.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, a Chicago auxiliary bishop, took up the issue of what to do with Catholic hospitals if FOCA became law. "It would not be sufficient to withdraw our sponsorship or to sell them to someone who would perform abortions," he said. "That would be a morally unacceptable cooperation in evil." (STLToday.com)

The church has every right to do that, but the decision could create a definite hospital shortage in the US.

Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of CHA, said in an interview that she did not believe the language in the most recent version of FOCA — despite its definition of abortion as a fundamental right — would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. But she also said that if it did, the church would look to the historical example of racial segregation as a model for civil disobedience.

"From the other side we hear consistent talk about being pro-choice," Keehan said. "If FOCA passes, the concept of being pro-choice will not be incompatible with our position — our choice would be not to participate."

Seven of the 11 hospitals in the Archdiocese of St. Louis are run by SSM Healthcare. In a statement, the company said it opposes FOCA "because it attempts to increase access to abortion and remove restrictions to abortion." (STLToday.com)

Join the fight against FOCA and help support the church to keep those hospitals open.