Freedom of Choice

Freedom of Choice a Tough Act to Follow

A year ago today [July 17], Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) stood before Planned Parenthood (PP) and vowed that his first priority as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). According to NARAL Pro-Choice America, FOCA would "codify Roe v. Wade into law and guarantee a woman's right to choose in all 50 states." On April 7, 2007, when Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the Act in Congress, they knew that it was far more than a government "guarantee" of abortion. If enacted, FOCA would obliterate hundreds of state laws that protect women, parents, children, and health care workers, while forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for millions of abortions. It would overturn commonsense laws like parental notification, conscience protections, abortion waiting periods, informed consent, and regulations for women's health. In essence, FOCA would tilt the table for abortion. Obama's support of FOCA hits particularly close to home among African-Americans, whose women and children have been preyed upon for decades by the eugenically minded PP. This connection has been pointed out again to the NAACP, who held their 99th annual conference with a sizeable pro-life presence. Together with Dr. Alveda King, niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., black leaders from across the country demonstrated at the convention where both presidential candidates spoke. The pro-life coalition is part of the growing movement of African-Americans who understand the "biggest struggle for civil rights today is for the rights of the unborn." While the NAACP national leadership and Sen. Obama stubbornly champion the abortion industry, groups like PP are profiting from the disproportionate number of black pregnancies that end inside their walls. Given the devastating effect of abortion on one in every two black pregnancies, shouldn't the NAACP be leading the charge against it?

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The Top Ten Myths About Abortion

Additional Resources
William McGurn: The NAACP and Black Abortions

from FRC's Action Update, July 17, 2008