Contact: Susan Armacost, Legislative Director, 877-855-5007, sarmacost@wrtl.org; Barbara L. Lyons, Executive Director, 877-855-5007, admin@wrtl.org; both with Wisconsin Right To Life
MEDIA ADVISORY, Jan. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, President Barack Obama is expected to issue an Executive Order reversing a vitally important policy of the Bush Administration, the Mexico City Policy, that protected American taxpayers from funding organizations that perform and promote abortions overseas.
Obama's impending action comes as no surprise to the state's largest right-to-life organization. "Today marks the beginning of the Obama assault on life and it is merely the precursor of many battles to come. Given Obama's abysmal record on life issues and the promises he made to radical pro-abortion organizations, his actions today confirm what we have been saying for over a year... Barack Obama will be the most pro-abortion president in the history of our nation." said Susan Armacost, Legislative Director of Wisconsin Right to Life.
As an Illinois State Senator and a member of the U.S. Senate, Obama has continually demonstrated a callous disregard for human life by actively opposing commonsense, publicly popular measures to protect unborn children and their mothers. As an Illinois Senate committee chair, Obama was responsible for derailing a bill that would have protected babies born alive after an abortion attempt. In the U.S. Senate, Obama voted for taxpayer funding of organizations that provide and promote abortion and he actively opposed legislation to prohibit taking minor girls across state lines to obtain secret abortions.
"As horrible as Obama's record on the life issues has been, the greatest threat of his Administration to unborn babies and their mothers is the so-called 'Freedom of Choice Act' (FOCA)," said Armacost. "FOCA would eliminate all of the federal and state laws passed in the past 35 years that restrict abortion and protect women and unborn babies."
Armacost explained that if FOCA becomes law, taxpayers will be forced to pay for abortions, partial-birth abortion will be legal again, secret abortions for minor girls will take place with no parental involvement and medical professionals and facilities will be forced to perform abortions. FOCA would prohibit the passage of future protective laws and abortions will skyrocket.
On July 17, 2007, then-candidate Barack Obama told the Planned Parenthood Action Fund "Well, the first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act."
"Obama's expected action today is despicable but we must understand that the single greatest threat of this anti-life administration is the passage of FOCA," said Armacost. "FOCA places women and unborn babies in peril. FOCA silences the voice and ignores the values of millions of people in our nation. Wisconsin Right to Life's top congressional priority is the defeat of FOCA."
To learn more about Wisconsin Right to Life's comprehensive plan to defeat FOCA, go to www.StopFOCAWi.com
