AND THEY CALL IT FREEDOM?

Written By D.

Obama’s plan to make the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) a priority may backfire mightily causing a crisis in healthcare. He wants to force all hospitals to perform abortions on demand.

The Catholic Church, which is the major power player in the sheer number of hospitals they control, is going to be force fed FOCA despite the fact that it goes against their religious beliefs. Apparently the Liberals believe the right to have an abortion, though not written in the Constitution, trumps the Constitutional right of Freedom of Religion. And those Doctors and Nurses who object to being a part of such practice because of their religious beliefs will be denied their freedom of choice.

Now I would assume FOCA can be achieved only because hospitals accept payment from federally funded entities like Medicaid and Medicare. Not unlike the Mafia, if you accept money from the government, then you are beholden to play by their rules whether they violate your Constitutional rights or not. (This is yet another good argument against socialized medicine.)

The Catholic Bishops have threatened to close their hospitals or, at the very least, close their OB/GYN wards before submitting to FOCA http://www.lifenews.com/nat4568.html The closing of these hospitals, many of which provide care to inner city patients would be devastating to our system of medical care provider facilities. Yes, they are that important and this is no small matter. It could create a crisis in healthcare. But there doesn’t seem to be any willingness for compromise on the part of Obama, probably because he doesn’t believe they will act upon their threat. So the question is whether they are really serious about their threat.

In some ways, I blame the Catholic Church for this credibility problem. For years they have turned a blind eye to politicians who claim to be Catholic yet support Choice. If excommunication is their tool to remove members who violate church principles and they do not use it consistently, then how do they expect to be taken seriously? They are now suffering the consequences of their own hypocrisy. They have made it too easy to say you are a Catholic without actually practicing Catholicism.

The Catholic Church really needs to win this one because it is a real threat to the practice of their membership beliefs which is the basis of Freedom of Religion. They need to actively get their members involved in a vocal and highly visible campaign to fight FOCA. They need to enlist the help of other religious groups and the Pro-Life movement as well. They have to use the excommunication tool in a very public way to demonstrate that they are serious about this issue and not allow those who do not adhere to Church doctrine to claim they are Catholic. They have to make sure government knows they are not bluffing on this issue.

If the state decides to dictate abortions on demand, then let those who want abortions go to a clinic that performs them. But no church, doctor or nurse should be forced to do something that goes against their beliefs simply because the facility accepts federally funded payment for medical care. The church did not start these federal programs and they are not the ones who blurred the separation of church and state with federal dollars, so they should not be punished or have their rights and beliefs violated as a result. It is time to draw a line in the sand.