St. Louis, Mo., Mar 6, 2009 / 17:01 pm
A spokesman for Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has said that the Freedom of Choice Act is among the congressman’s priorities and will be introduced “sooner rather than later,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is intended to enshrine abortion rights into federal law, protecting abortion in the event the Supreme Court overturns its ban on restrictive state abortion laws. The proposal has drawn intense Catholic opposition, with Catholic bishops worried the bill could threaten Catholic hospitals’ freedom to refuse to cooperate with or perform abortions.
A prior version of FOCA defined abortion as a “fundamental right” that no government can “deny” or “interfere with.”
Critics have claimed that concern about FOCA is overblown, noting the bill has not even been introduced for the present Congressional session. They declare FOCA’s chances of passing Congress to be slim.