By
Jonquil Frankham
PATERSON,
New Jersey, October 21, 2008
(LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop
Arthur Serratelli of Paterson,
NJ penned a column for his diocesan
website this week, warning his
diocese of the possible implementation
of the radical Freedom of Choice
Act (FOCA), particularly under
a possible Obama presidency.
In
the article Bishop Serratelli
compares Barack Obama to King
Herod, the king during the life
of Christ who ordered the beheading
of John the Baptist in order
to keep a promise he had made
to Salome. Much like Herod,
writes Serratelli, Obama has
made a promise - to pass the
Freedom of Choice Act. However,
should Obama keep this promise,
“not
only will many of our freedoms
as Americans be taken from us,
but the innocent and vulnerable
will spill their blood.”
The
Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
is a bill introduced in the
United States Congress in 2004.
It would remove all restrictions
on abortion in the United States,
both on the state and federal
level. “FOCA goes far
beyond guaranteeing the right
to an abortion throughout the
nine months of pregnancy. It
arrogantly prohibits any law
or policy interfering with that
right,” says Bishop Serratelli.
This is the “dark reality”
kept secret by propagandists
for ‘choice.’
The
bill is strongly supported by
presidential candidate Barack
Obama, who promised in a speech
for Planned Parenthood that
“the first thing he would
do as President would be to
sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”
Among
those no longer free to choose
under FOCA, says the bishop,
would be pro-life doctors and
nurses, whose freedom of conscience
is currently protected under
the law. Religious hospitals
and clinics would also be forced
to perform abortions up until
the birth of the baby.
NARAL
America presents the bill as
a systematic presentation of
Roe vs. Wade, but opponents
like Bishop Serratelli note
that it would eliminate those
restrictions the 1973 court
case allowed, such as parental
consent, waiting periods, information
for mothers regarding emotional
and psychological dangers, and
restrictions on late-term abortions.
The
bishop hails the death of freedom,
should FOCA get passed. “Gone
the freedom of conscience so
essential for a civil society,”
the bishop tells his readers.
“Gone the freedom of women
and young girls to have all
the information they need to
make their own choices!”
The
bill would also “force
taxpayers to fund abortions,”
thereby nullifying the fundamental
American policy of taxation
with representation. It would
also “redefine a woman’s
‘health’ so as to
expressly permit post-viability
abortions.” The bishop
clarifies, “Thus, a child
who survives an abortion can
be left to die for the health
of the mother … This is
infanticide. Gone the freedom
of her baby, once born, to live!”
Pro-Abortion
advocates’ “zeal
for the Freedom of Choice Act,”
Bishop Serratelli writes, “sounds
the alarm for decent Americans
to wake up! The more the right
to life is denied, the more
we lose our freedoms. The
‘pro-choice’ movement
is not pro-choice. It stands
against the freedom to choose
what is right according to the
truth of the human person...
At this point, we are still
free to choose!”
You
may find the bishop’s
column at
http://www.patersondiocese.org/page.cfm?Web_ID=2752