Freedom of Choice Act
I’ve been reading quite a few Christian blogs who are arguing strongly against Obama, primarily because of his support for abortion rights.
My initial instinct is to not put much weight on any of these arguments. Die-hard advocates on both sides of the abortion debate have always backed “their party”. Given how little a President does to personally influence a single issue(other than war), I find it hard to vote based on that. Other than his Supreme Court choices, what did Bush really do for pro-lifers?
But I have to admit, I was initially bothered when I first started seeing this quote from Obama: “The first thing I’d do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.” I read up on it on wikipedia and on govtrack. The wording IS very disturbing, even for someone as mild in his opinion as me. Here are some of the things the bill MAY affect:(sourced from wikipedia)
- parental notification laws
- waiting periods
- requirements of full disclosure of the physical and emotional risks inherent in abortion
- restrictions on certain late-term abortion techniques.
- In addition, it would force the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of Federal funding for abortions, and invalidate the ability of religiously-based hospitals or clinics to refuse to perform abortions based on the violation of their consciences.
I’m not sure if I believe in criminalization, but I DO believe in restrictions. I believe most of these are GOOD things, that benefit the women as well as the fetus. I also don’t want to have to spend taxpayer money supporting abortions.
So the initial reading was very disturbing for me. Obama IS much more to left on this issue than I knew. (He’s one of the cosponsors.. along with many other well-known Democrats. read the list at govtrack)
However, looking a little more carefully at this.. although I don’t like this bill, and I’m not happy that Obama is a supporter.. I don’t think this even gets to the President’s desk. It was first introduced in 2004, reintroduced in 2007 but has never gone any further than being introduced.
From govtrack:
This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills go first to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned.
So.. final analysis?
Bothered by Obama’s support.. but not convinced anything will happen because of it.
