It's worse than you think...
"FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. And FOCA would counteract any and all sincere effors by government to reduce abortions in our country."
- Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia
"[FOCA] would wipe out a very large number of existing state laws on abortion ... and override nearly 40 years of jurisprudential experience on the subject of abortion."
- USCCB Memorandum on FOCA
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- All parental notification laws would be nullified. This means that any pregnant girl, no matter how young, could have an abortion without telling her parents. Nurses and doctors would not be required to inform the parents of minors if they referred for or provided an abortion. Only six states currently are without some kind of parental involvement law.
- All laws requiring a waiting period before abortion so that a woman can take time to think about her decision would be eliminated.
- The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 would be reversed. This ban was vetoed twice by President Clinton, and finally signed into law by President Bush. It was tied up in court for 4 years, and finally became effective on April 18, 2007. It banned the brutal practice of aborting a child who was delivered normally, all but the head, and then killed.
- The Hyde Amendment, which restricts taxpayer funding of abortions, would be reversed.
- Religiously affiliated hospitals that do not currently allow abortions in their facilities would be forced to either perform abortions or stop providing health care.
- Military hospitals would now be required to provide abortion the same as any other health procedure.
- Health insurance for federal employees would have to cover abortion as a regular procedure with no restrictions.
- Abortions would no longer have to be performed by licensed physicians, creating a greater likelihood of complications and safety issues for women.
- Health and safety regulations at abortion clinics could be invalidated.
- Doctors, nurses, and hospitals that conscientiously object to abortion would no longer be protected from lawsuits if they created a delay or inconvenience for a woman wishing to obtain an abortion.
- Artificially implanted cloned human embryo’s could now be allowed to be carried to term.
- FOCA would require any government program that provides, pays for, or insures childbirth or healthcare services to do the same for the abortion procedure.
- All public hospitals and medical schools that restrict access for abortion procedures would now be open to be used for these procedures.
- Taxpayers would now be required to pay for elective abortions with their tax dollars under the Medicaid program and in the military.