Freedom of Choice?

Courier-Times Article for November 15, 2008

In the halls of our nation’s capital, legislators are considering HR1964 and S1173. These are the United States House and Senate bills titled “The Freedom of Choice Act”. The bills are nearly identical, only about 2 pages long each, and you can read them at your leisure on the internet. Unfortunately, as Christians, we do not have the luxury of being leisurely in our response to this “act” of Congress.

If these bills are passed and signed into law by the President it would impact Indiana communities in the following ways.

Abortions after the first 12 weeks would become legal. (Abortions in the first 12 weeks are already legal.)

A requirement would be removed that women considering abortions be given information regarding: the nature of the proposed procedure; the risks of and alternatives to the procedure; the probable gestational age of the fetus, including an offer to provide a picture or drawing of a fetus, the dimensions of a fetus, and relevant information on the potential survival of a fetus at that stage of development; the risks associated with carrying the pregnancy to term; the name of the physician who will perform the abortion; and the availability of ultrasounds and fetal heart tone services. These women would not receive this additional information: that medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care; that the "father" is liable for child support; and that adoption alternatives are available and that the adoptive parents may legally pay the costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care. In addition they could proceed to an abortive procedure with no waiting period to consider all of the ramifications of their decision. (Currently they must wait 18 hours to consider all of their options.)

Physicians, hospitals, and hospital staff members would no longer have the protection of Indiana laws to refuse to provide abortions based on moral or ethical beliefs.

Minors would no longer need parental consent to have an abortion, and parents would not even need to be notified that such a procedure occurred.

Abortions could be preformed by people other than Indiana licensed physicians and in places other than licensed hospitals or surgical centers.

Babies who had grown to the point where they could survive outside the womb would no longer have protection under Indiana law, making second and third trimester abortions and partial-birth abortions legal.

These facts are not from pro-life sources. All of this information comes from The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) website.

From a biblical perspective, scripture is clear – God asks us to choose life.

Deuteronomy 30:19 reads: This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live . . . (NIV)

Scripture says that life begins in the womb.

Read Psalm 139:13-16: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (NIV)

Even if scripture were not clear, the “Freedom of Choice Act” actually removes freedoms and safeguards that most Hoosiers hold dear.

Women who were considering abortions would not have the freedom to make an informed choice.

Physicians, hospitals, and hospital staff would no longer have the freedom to follow their own convictions of ethical and moral behavior. Rather, they would be faced with a choice of their own: stop preacticing medicine altogether, or move to a nation that believes in freedom of choice for medical professionals.

Parents would no longer have the freedom of being with their minor daughters during a major medical procedure, nor would they have the freedom of giving their minor daughters guidance and counsel. Children would, in effect, become wards of the state once they are born.

Communities would no longer have the freedom of deciding who can perform abortions and where they can be performed. Nothing would prevent unqualified persons from performing abortions in neighborhoods, schools, or hotel rooms.

Finally, infants would no longer have the freedom to fight for life. Regardless of their “viability” outside the womb, infants who were not “completely” born could have their lives snuffed out with the blessing of the federal government.

That’s where we come in. This is still a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people” and you and I still have a voice.

So, if you value freedom then speak up! Write, call, and e-mail your national leaders, your Senators and Congresmen and women. Let President Bush and President-elect Obama know that you do not want them to sign that bill if it passes congress.

If you believe in the authority of the Word of God then your responsibility is greater. Not only do you need to use your voice to protect freedom and the lives of the unborn, you have the obligation to pray for your leaders that they will make wise and God-honoring choices. Pray for women who find themselves in the midst of an unwanted pregnancy. Give to ministries like the Henry County Pregancy Care Center and CRADLES that care for women who choose to keep their children. Consider adopting infants born to women who cannot keep their children, or supporting an adoptive family financially.

If we refuse to act, if our busy lives “prevent” us from excersicing our constitutional freedom of speech or our constitutional responsibility of self government, if we remain silent out of fear or apathy, we will lose many of our freedoms to a law called the Freedom of Choice Act. The choice is yours.


Visit my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719).

Photos and videos are posted at my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/)

Thanks for reading!