[HPFGU-OTChatter] I voted!!! was Re: Obama and daughter HP fans

[Kai Wen Lee]

Cabal:
This is what John McCain referred to as (in air quotes) "the mother's health" during the last debate. For me the "mother's health" remark literally mocked the lives of women at danger due to a complication and might otherwise be saved.

CJ now:
I'm no McCain fan, and I think the incident to which you refer was politcally unwise, however what he was mocking was the "health" half of the "life or health" equation. Most conservatives, McCain included, do not oppose abortion to save the life of the mother. However, there is widespread belief amongst conservatives that the "health" half of the equation is so nebulously defined as to constitute an effective blank-check endorsement of abortion for any reason.

Cabal:
Obama (and I agree) is against abortion but not for taking away a woman's right.

CJ:
I have two problems with FOCA. The first is that, contrary to the middle-ground rhetoric the Obama campaign has been promoting, FOCA is in fact scorched-earth legislation. It would by Congressional fiat overturn 35 years of carefully crafted judicial and legislative compromise, hand pro-choice forces a nearly 100 percent complete legislative victory and irrevocably shut pro-lifers out of any future debate. Under FOCA even such minor compromises as parental notification would become impossible.

The second problem is that it is poorly crafted legislation. It does not specify how it relates to current federal law. FOCA reclassifies abortion as a standard medical procedure which under federal law cannot be denied to patients by any medical institution or personnel. However, currently federal law prohibits discrimination against medical personnel and institutions who choose not to provide or participate in abortion services. Catholic hospitals cannot be denied federal funding because they don't provide abortion services. And pro-life OB/GYNs cannot be denied employment because they refuse to perform abortions.

As currently written, FOCA would set up a conflict between federal laws. Does FOCA intend to retain or supersede federal protections for pro-life medical personnel? By failing to specify, FOCA dumps the whole question squarely on the courts, and guarantees years, if not decades, of legal wrangling. That is, by definition, bad legislation.

And if the courts do eventually find that FOCA supersedes current federal protections, pro-life medical personnel and institutions could eventually be forced to perform abortions in violation of their consciences or face lawsuits, fines and loss of license for refusing.

Cabal:
Without FOCA states could, force doctors to let mothers die rather than perform latestage abortions.

CJ:
How so? Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to abortion. No state law can override that. Can you provide a specific example?

--CJ

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