Freedom of Choice Act Looming - Your prayer is needed and requested

If you are opposed to abortion then there is bad news on the horizon.
For those of you who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is
set to be signed if congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009. If passed, it would codify Roe v. Wade and "guarantee the reproductive rights of women for generations to come" according to Pro-Choice America. The bill states in its findings section that Congress has the affirmative power to legislate abortion based, in part, on the crossing of state lines by abortion providers, women seeking abortions, and medical supplies used in abortions. The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion.

According to the article in Wikipedia, the bill, if passed, will invalidate every restriction on an abortion before the stage of viability, in every state, such as parental notification laws, waiting periods, requirements of full disclosure of the physical and emotional risks inherent in abortion, and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Please stop for one moment and re-read that... yes, it would lift ALL restrictions that require parental consent to abortion for minors who seek one, it would abolish all waiting periods in states that currently require a mother to consider her options before making the final decision, and it would allow far-left leaning organizations like NARAL to offer abortions with NO counseling as to the emotional risks women face when going through with an abortion. My friends, I have dear friends who have aborted children because they were told there was no other choice. Ask them about the emotional cost of this "choice". Opponents further assert that it would challenge the right of religiously-based hospitals or clinics to refuse to perform abortions. In response to this, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is threatening to close all Catholic hospitals, which equates to 30% of US hospitals. If this were to occur, the #1 population that would suffer would be the poor who cannot afford care at private hospitals, but are beneficiaries of Catholic missions. And that it would force the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of Federal funding for abortions. That's right, your tax dollars will now be going to fund abortion. That's hard to swallow for a staunch pro-lifer! In effect, I would be paying for abortion.

Perhaps most importantly the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, down syndrome babies, etc) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have. I know that this seems like a far jump for many of you, and you might be thinking that this is overstating the case. However, I think if you look at every civilization in history (not only recent history, but history from Babylon to modern day China) you will find that most agregious crimes against humanity, injustice, and even ethnic cleansing, was introduced in a very innocent "that won't apply to me" fashion. Do you think the forced abortions in China as a method of population control was embraced by the Chinese population? Even Hitler knew that you get people to eat an elephant, not by telling them to eat an elephant, but by feeding it to them one bite at a time. It was a very slippery slope from moving Jews into designated areas of town to Aushwitz.

The only way to be sure that we maintain a reasonable level of restriction on the killing of innocent life is to stop the act before it becomes law. It's much easier to stop it than to repeal it. To me, as a parent, the absolute scariest part of this law is that my daughter could choose at the age of 13 to have an abortion without my consent, and forever change her life without the benefit of wise counsel. No worries though, if she needs surgery for an in-grown toenail, I'll still be required to sign off on that!

The Plan:

To say a novena ( 9 days of prayer ) along with fasting
starting on January 11th. Many Catholics have chosen to say the Rosary with intnentions to defeat FOCA. If you are not Catholic, I urge you to say The Lord's Prayer with specific meditation on the defeat of this horrific bill. Or pray from your heart, which we know the Lord always hears with tender heart and open ears. However you pray, please plead with me to the Lord (and your senators and representatives if you feel so inclined) to defeat this act. We know that no authority on earth has dominion over our God and He can wipe this possibility from our country, but we must act fast because there is very little time left.

1) Please link this post to your blogs or forward it to others who you know to be pro-life

2) Pray every day without ceasing that FOCA will not be forced upon us and the unborn

3) Please fast with me for at least two days of the nine days of prayer. Fasting, as defined for Catholics, is two light meals in a 24 hour period to include no meat, sweets or wine. There are many ways and definitions of fasting, I offer this one only as an example, of course, I urge you to abide by your own faith's definition!



Ephesians 1:20-22
"...which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything..."