The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice has made it official: there’s never been, nor will there ever be, an abortion that doesn’t get their seal of approval. They make this clear in a letter they’ve sent to President-elect Obama in which they come out for the Freedom of Choice Act:

Therefore, we urge you to: Support the Freedom of Choice Act, which reaffirms a woman’s right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and urge its passage in Congress.

There’s a lot of other stuff they want Obama to get done (repeal the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, restore funding for the UN Population Fund, get rid of the Mexico City policy, etc.), but FOCA is the big enchilada.

And what is FOCA, you ask? It is Planned Parenthood’s fondest dream–the prohibition of any and all restrictions on abortion in the United States, by any jurisdiction, and for any purpose. The bill itself is fairly short–it starts off with a series of “findings,” a number of which are questionable if not demonstrably false, but gets to the point in Section 4:

(a) Statement of Policy- It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.

(b) Prohibition of Interference- 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.

(c) Civil Action- An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (including relief against a government) in a civil action.

Here’s what is significant in this section:

1) The reference to the “health” of the mother is left deliberately undefined. (Section 3, “Definitions,” defines “government,” “state,” and “viability,” but not health.) Without specificity, the word may be taken in any way that a doctor–read, abortionist–wants to take it: physical, emotional, relational, whatever. It effectively means, “whenever a woman decides she would rather abort than bear her child.”

2) “Deny” refers to any prohibition on any form or circumstance. In other words, the partial-birth abortion ban would be out, as would any effort to protect viable children. “Interfere” is a far broader term. It effectively means that things like parental notification, waiting periods, information requirements, and possibly even any regulation of abortion mills would go out the window. In fact, I think you could read this to require federal or state funding of abortion, since it could be considered a form of interference for the government to refuse to provide the money needed to pay for the procedure.

3) The prohibition of discrimination “in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information” strongly suggests to me an effort at total de-regulation of abortion mills. This provision also suggests to me that if a given area, region, or state doesn’t have an abortion provider, the state, county, or city could be required to provide one. As for the reference to information, that’s positively Orwellian–what the authors mean is that no one can be required to either give or receive information on abortion, not that it has to be given out even-handedly.

4) Finally, the “civil action” provision means that courts have a free hand in imposing this regime on everybody (in particular, any reticent governmental body) at the drop of a lawsuit from RCRC, NARAL, NOW, or any individual abortion supporter. There will, by the power of the judiciary, be no dissent allowed from the totalitarian abortion regime.

The signers of this letter are:

American Friends Service Committee
Catholics for Choice
Christian Lesbians Out
Disciples for Choice
Disciples Justice Action Network
Hadassah
Jewish Women International
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Lutheran Women’s Caucus
National Council of Jewish Women
NA’AMAT USA
Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society
Union for Reform Judaism
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

I’m not sure why the Episcopal Church, the Washington Office and Women’s Ministries agency of the PCUSA, the Methodist Federation for Social Action, or some of the other members of RCRC didn’t sign this. Maybe their phones were busy. Maybe it was just assumed that, since they are members of RCRC, they supported the letter, though the same could have been said of more than have the organizations that did sign. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t change the fact that what these people are advocating is the most radical position on abortion in American history, and one that is completely at odds with the any sense of Judeo-Christian morality.

Ba’al would be proud of them.

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