ACLU Letter to Senator Boxer and Representative Nadler Thanking The Lawmakers For Introducing The Freedom of Choice Act (“FOCA”) (4/17/2006)
The Honorable Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler
United States House of Representatives
2334 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Senator Boxer and Representative Nadler:
We
write to convey the American Civil Liberties Union’s strong support for The
Freedom of Choice Act (“FOCA”), which would guarantee reproductive freedom for
future generations of American women.
Since the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade
decision, anti-choice
legislators in the states and in Congress have systematically eroded
reproductive rights. Just
last month, the South Dakota legislature passed, and the governor signed, a ban
on almost all abortions. Other
state and federal restrictions threaten to make reproductive freedom an empty
promise for many American women, and many of these restrictions fall most
heavily on low-income women and young women. For example, 33 states and the District
of Columbia currently restrict low-income women’s access to abortion; several
federal laws, such as the Hyde Amendment, bar access to abortion care for
low-income women who rely on the federal government for their health care. Likewise, 44 states restrict young
women’s access to abortion by mandating parental notice or consent.
The Freedom of Choice Act would restore the reproductive rights recognized in
Roe, before state and federal
restrictions chipped away at those rights.
By superceding existing
anti-choice laws that restrict the right to choose abortion, and
prohibiting any level of government from enacting measures that deny or
interfere with a woman's right to choose to continue or end a pregnancy, FOCA
would stop the erosion of a
woman’s right to choose.
At a time when Roe hangs in
the balance, FOCA is essential to guarantee reproductive freedom in federal law
for future generations of American women.
The ACLU thanks you for introducing this critical bill.
Sincerely,
Caroline
Fredrickson
Director Gregory T.
Nojeim
Associate
Director and Chief Legislative Counsel
|
