Speak up on FOCA

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all existing state laws protecting unborn children and created the right to abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy. Since the notorious Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, close to 50 million unborn children have been aborted.

On the 36th anniversary of those decisions, an interesting irony is developing. On the one hand the leadership in Congress, with the support of Barack Obama, plans to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would nullify virtually every state and federal law that in any way limits access to abortion, including parental notification laws, the ban on partial-birth abortion and laws that prevent taxpayer-funded abortions.

This anti-life legislation comes at a time when a new Harris Poll conducted in December shows a plurality of Americans want all or most abortions to be illegal under all circumstances or be limited. A solid majority support parental notification and oppose partial-birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion. Fewer than one in 10 Americans support the current law of the land.

If FOCA passes, it will usher in the greatest expansion of abortion since 1973. It will turn back the clock on 36 years of work to enact common-sense restraints and regulations on the abortion industry, which are supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans. Pro-life citizens have the power to stop this extreme anti-life legislation from becoming law by letting their voices be heard.

PAM FICHTER, President, Missouri Right to Life, Warson Woods, Mo.