The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Life issues in 2009

By Doug Carlson - Jan 20, 2009 - 4

Barack Obama made history today to the adulation of millions by becoming the first black man to assume the presidency of the United States. On Jan. 22, crowds will gather on the same soil to the west of the Capitol and march on the same pavement that two days earlier carried the inaugural parade to mourn the unborn in the 36th March for Life. The annual event marks the tragic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

The political change that has swept Washington, D.C., appears likely to bring with it policy changes far different than those sought by pro-lifers. Such potential changes could loosen abortion restrictions and may well cause the additional deaths of well over 100,000 unborn children each year. The liberal makeup of Congress and the cut-and-dry abortion-friendly positions of our new president do not encourage the pro-life cause. We can expect to see an assault on human life on multiple fronts in 2009.

Freedom of Choice Act. The biggest threat to the unborn is a measure some fear will rear its ugly head in the coming months. The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would essentially codify Roe v. Wade into law, wiping away virtually every restriction on abortion. Put simply, abortion laws—whether on the books at the federal, state or local level—requiring parental notification, informed consent, 24-hour waiting periods, or freezes on government funding of abortion would disappear. Partial-birth abortion would return. And some researchers believe abortions would jump by 125,000 annually.

One of its most vocal supporters is the president himself. In 2007, President Obama told a Planned Parenthood gathering that “[t]he first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.” Fortunately, FOCA must first clear Congress. Regardless, the intent of the president ought to give us pause. A more likely scenario on FOCA, however, is a piece-by-piece rollback of abortion restrictions, incrementally approaching an end goal of no-strings-attached abortions.

Taxpayer-Funded Abortion. Americans might also expect to soon find large sums of their tax dollars subsidizing abortions both here and abroad. Many observers are forecasting President Obama will use one of his first official acts of office to overturn the longstanding Mexico City Policy, which bars tax dollars from aiding foreign family planning organizations that perform or promote abortions. No congressional action is needed here, just the stroke of the president’s pen.

So too could go the Hyde and Helms Amendments, two policies that prevent various governmental agencies from directing taxpayer dollars toward abortions here (Hyde) and overseas (Helms). Americans should also anticipate more dollars flowing to the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, which already drinks in over $336 million annually in federal funds. Nor should we overlook the expected push to open up military bases to abortion. Also plausible is the opening up of funds to a United Nations agency that supports China’s coercive one-child policy.

Taxpayer-Funded Embryo-Destructive Research. The outlook on continuing protection for human embryos is also bleak. Both Congress and the new administration have expressed their intent to overturn a policy set in motion in 2001 by President Bush that restricts federal funding of research that requires killing human embryos. President Bush twice acted as a firewall to block embryo-destructive legislation, while pushing for ethical, adult stem cell research that has treated more than 70 ailments. Many observers expect this change in policy sooner rather than later.

Conscience Protections. There is a looming threat to conscience rights for healthcare workers. Regulations signed by President Bush last month to protect healthcare workers’ right of conscience on morally objectionable services such as abortion and end-of-life care officially took hold today. But the days of the regulations could be numbered. Christian physicians could then be forced into choosing either their career or conscience.

A potential step forward in the battle for the unborn is the Pregnant Women Support Act (S. 270/H.R. 605). This bill finds support on both sides of the political aisle. It would provide various kinds of federal assistance to women who find themselves in challenging pregnancies so they would have the kinds of health and personal support they need to decide to give their babies life rather than aborting them.

With these challenges and more, pro-lifers face a steep climb ahead in 2009. As today’s historic inauguration turns another page in the struggle for equal human rights ushered in by Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Obama and Congress should remember that the dream is not yet fulfilled.

Alveda King, niece of the 1960s Civil Rights icon, commented after the election of President Obama that “[Dr. King’s] dream of full equality remains just a dream as long as unborn children continue to be treated no better than property.”

Americans should do their part to help President Obama and Congress understand that the dream extends to both the born and unborn. We must all pray that our elected officials will make the right choice to turn another page forward, not backward, in history—the choice for life.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing bulletin inserts or other materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation

• Subscribe
• Donate
• Feeds
• Internships

Recently

• Partner with the Psalm 139 Project to Save Lives
• ERLC’s Land Sends Letter to Congress Opposing Health Care Reform Bill
• Land: GOP wins send reminder to D.C.
• This Is It! Urge Representative to Oppose Health Care Takeover
• This Is It! Urge Representative to Oppose Health Care Takeover