Why I Couldn't Vote for Obama

There are a number of reasons I didn't vote for Obama, but one reason I'm going to address in this blog post is that I believe in the rights of unborn babies. I believe they have a right to be born once they have been conceived, and that baby's right to life supersedes any other rights .

I'm sure you've all heard of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). While campaigning, Obama said one of the first things he'd do if elected was sign FOCA. I'm guessing a good many people don't even completely know what FOCA entails. Unless you're hard core pro-choice, I can't believe anyone would think FOCA is a good idea. Here are a few tidbits:

1. It's currently illegal to obtain a partial birth abortion, which is when a doctor delivers the baby, usually during the second trimester, only to end it's life (I'll leave out the gruesome details of how this is done. You can find a lot of information on Wikipedia if you need more information.) If FOCA is passed, it is almost assured that partial birth abortions will be made legal again. I question why, even if the mother's life is endangered, the baby's life needs to be ended in this vile, brutal way.

2. As of right now almost all states have laws that limit what a minor can do without consent or knowledge from the parents or guardians. If passed, minors (i.e., your daughter, your niece, your granddaughter, etc.) will be able to obtain prescription birth control, as well as have an abortion without parental consent or knowledge. And the bonus is that this makes it easy for some young girls to be taken advantage of by adults, doesn't it?

3. There are government restrictions on funding for abortions. If passed, FOCA would require the government to provide funding for abortions. As someone who is pro-life, it troubles me deeply to think of tax dollars from my home going to pay for the sole purpose of funding abortions. If Planned Parenthood and all the pro-choice folks out there want this "right", then they should fund it from their own coffers and not expect to burden the American people even more than they already are.

4. There would be no more wait periods for abortions. In many states a woman must wait 24-72 hours before having an abortion so she can reflect on the information presented to her at the consultation and presumably give it some consideration before making the final decision.

5. FOCA would make abortion legal anytime, anywhere, any age, any reason. State or Federal Judges and politicians would be found in contempt by speaking out against FOCA once it is passed. Doctors would no longer be able to claim they couldn’t do the procedure due to their conscience, and faith-based hospitals would be required to perform abortions they do not believe in.

So under FOCA a 14 year old girl could be taken advantage of by say, a 25 year old man, get pregnant, be coerced by this man into getting an abortion, and of course not tell her parents about it. Further, she can access tax dollars collected from folks experiencing infertility and who can't have a family to pay for this abortion, then force a faith-based hospital and Christian or Muslim doctor to perform the procedure. I agree this is an exaggerated scenario, but certainly one that could happen.

I ask you, how does any of this help reduce the number of abortions??

And if that's not bad enough, on 1-23-09 President Obama "rescinded a Reagan-era measure that blocks funding to foreign aid groups that perform or promote abortions." Huh. Do I need to wonder where that funding comes from? It's bad enough my tax dollars are going to bail out greedy banks and don't-have-a-clue car manufacturers, but now I have to fund abortions on foreign soil? In a country that is on it's economic knees, I don't think international abortion funding is a priority, do you? Well, our President seems to think so anyway.

I'm deeply troubled by FOCA and invite you to pray for all the unborn who are at risk, as well as speak out to our government on where you stand. I'm stepping off my soap box now. :-(