POST ELECTION CATHARSIS

The long fortnight of anger and despair is over. Thanks to Dr. Dan, psychiatrist to the myopic and disenfranchised conservative, I have emerged from the dark abyss into the light of hope and change. I have a new bounce in my step and I smile a lot now. His subtle yet effective therapy has enabled me to cast aside my preconceived notions and inherent distrust of Barack Obama. No longer will I view President Elect Obama through my personal right angle prism.

Noting that Obama captured 53% of the popular vote, Dr. Dan encouraged me to get off my high horse and to consider that this vast majority may be right. We live in a democracy, after all. Well, actually, we don’t but there I go with the negativity again. Once I was able to get over my hang-ups with the sanctity of life and the constitution, Obama’s brilliance and compassion became obvious. I am now able to understand and appreciate Obama’s positions on a host of important issues.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT (FOCA)

The future president, speaking at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event in 2007, stated that: “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom Of Choice Act.”
FOCA was first introduced in 1989 when some in congress feared that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. FOCA’s main goals are to create a “fundamental right to abortion” and to eliminate any Federal, State or Local government action that would limit access to abortion. FOCA has never been made law but it has been reintroduced several times since 1989. The most recent version was introduced in 2007 following the Supreme Court decision upholding the Federal ban on partial birth-abortion. This new version includes language characterizing the ban on partial-birth abortion as a barrier that hindered “the ability of women to participate in the economic and social life of the Nation.” While I admit I don’t see the connection, President Elect Obama certainly does. FOCA will nullify all pro-life laws that the Supreme Court has ruled to be permissible under Roe v. Wade. No longer will Catholic hospitals be allowed to decline to provide or pay for abortions. Bans on government funding of abortions will go away. And FOCA hasn’t forgotten about the girls either! Parental consent or notification statutes that have been used by over zealous parents as a tool to deny access to abortion for their minor daughters will be a thing of the past. No longer will a young girl face the trauma of telling her parents that she is pregnant. She will be able to seek unbiased and professional counsel from a trained abortionist at the local Planned Parenthood clinic. Such a serious and potentially embarrassing situation in a young girl’s life cannot be left to the vagaries of over-bearing parents and scheming family members. And cost will not be an issue because the government will pay for everything!
Finally, we will have a President that understands the challenges faced by young girls in contemporary America. How is an awkward 15 year-old freshman supposed to get a date with the star quarterback if she has to worry about the consequences of “putting out” for the stud? Like President Elect Obama said, in reference to his daughters: “I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Weaker Presidents have failed to sign FOCA into law but a new day is dawning in America! President Elect Obama has shown the strength to provide leadership on this seminal piece of legislation.
TO BE CONTINUED