Standing Against FOCA
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:35 AM
I promised you the final version of the bishops’ statement on FOCA from their annual meeting.
Voila! Read it, it’s exceptionally well crafted.
It begins by wishing President-Elect Obama well and listing all the areas in which they hope to work with him and with all persons of good will. Only then do they raise the specter of the Freedom of Choice Act and its likely consequences. Then we get to the heart of the matter:
“FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.
On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.
The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.”
There’s also a statement of gratitude to all those in public life who work to defend the unborn—often at great personal cost, and a closing prayer for the President-Elect. Nicely done!
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