Catholic Bishops Say Pro-Life, Anti-FOCA Postcard Campaign Was a Success
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 4, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The pro-life office of the nation’s Catholic bishops launched a nationwide postcard campaign on the weekend following the Roe anniversary to lobby members of Congress against FOCA. The Freedom of Choice Act is a radical bill that could mandate unlimited abortions nationwide.
Eager to oppose a measure that would also overturn hundreds of pro-life state laws across the country, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a national postcard campaign.
The effort, sponsored in conjunction with the Committee for a Human Life Amendment, urged members of Congress to resist the radical bill, which has yet to be officially introduced or come up for a vote.
The campaign saw tens of millions of cards distributed across the country to Catholic parishes, schools, non-Catholic churches, and civic organizations.
Deirdre McQuade, with the bishops’ pro-life office, talked with LifeNews.com about the success of the effort.
"The massive campaign underway shows clearly that, regardless of how they voted, Catholics want to send a strong message to Congress to protect existing pro-life policies and to oppose the radical promotion of abortion," she said. "As cards start flooding in, the new Congress will see that they should not divide our nation with policies that offend the pro-life values of the majority of Americans.”
McQuade said pro-abortion groups are emboldened by the election results and getting of their own in the White House. She expected either the full FOCA bill or a piecemeal version to be introduced shortly.
“Abortion advocates are newly energized because Congress has the most pro-abortion members in 16 years," she said. "Recent sponsors of FOCA have indicated their desire to introduce a similar bill soon, and President Obama has promised to sign it if it reaches his desk."
However, McQuade tells LifeNews.com she is hopeful that an alarmed pro-life movement can stop the bill the same way it did in 1993 shortly after the election of President Bill Clinton.
"One such effort was fought back successfully in 1993 when the U.S. bishops mobilized the Catholic faithful in their first nationwide postcard campaign against the so-called ‘Freedom of Choice Act,’" she said.
That effort led to the defeat of the bill, but McQuade isn’t content to rest on the pro-life movement’s laurels.
"To guard against the erosion of current pro-life measures — and to keep abortion from becoming a federal entitlement — our voice is needed now more than ever," she said.
Related web sites:
National Pro-Life Postcard Campaign – https://www.usccb.org/prolife
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
