Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2009 / 15:47 pm
Members of Congress are being urged to maintain pro-life provisions in appropriations bills in a recent letter from Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-life Activities.
“I urge you not to use this legislation to weaken or rescind longstanding provisions that protect U.S. taxpayers from being forced to fund and promote the destruction of innocent human life," Cardinal Rigali said, speaking on behalf of the Committee in his Feb. 5 letter.
He said he is joined by “millions of Catholics and others” who are sending to their representatives postcards bearing the message “Please oppose FOCA [the 'Freedom of Choice Act'] or any similar measure, and retain laws against federal funding and promotion of abortion.”
“While an extreme proposal like FOCA would overturn hundreds of pro-life laws at once, we are equally concerned that such laws may be overturned one at a time during Congress's appropriations process," the cardinal noted.