Local News
Letter to the Editor
Published: August 6, 2009
To the Editor:
With a sense of urgency, I write.
It was not too long ago we in the Archdiocese of Atlanta were sending out letters to our representatives to stop FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act Bill). No, FOCA is not on the table, but central provisions of it have made their way by stealth into the Health Care Reform bill by mandating taxpayer funding of abortions.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling us to action by contacting our Representatives and Senators and tell them health care reform should:
Include health care coverage for all people from conception until natural death, and continue the federal ban on funding for abortions;
Include access for all with a special concern for the poor;
Pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience; and
Restrain costs and apply costs equitably among payers.
After talking with my Representative’s office, I asked, “What more can I do?” They recommended spreading the truth in my state and to the people I know in other states.
When Roe v. Wade was becoming law, I was unaware of this intrinsically evil law by the legalization of abortions. It saddens me to think that my children have never been in a world without this plague of abortions. The fact is, if language is not written into the congressional Health Care Reform bill to forbid federal/taxpayer funding of abortions, it will be law. So let us act quickly with God’s grace in truth, charity and speed.
Patty Palmquist, Lilburn
