From http://blog.aulaction.org/2009/02/13/foca-by-stealth-ask-congress-to-defend-pro-life-riders/
Dear Friend,
As you may have heard, Congress has not yet introduced the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). That’s because the pro-abortion forces have heard your voice. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told the Wall Street Journal:
We’re going to be smart and strategic about our policy agenda to bring people together to make progress for women’s health. The Freedom of Choice Act is very important . . . but we have a long list of things to get done that I think can address problems immediately that women are facing, that are really immediate concerns.
In other words, because of the more than 650,000 people like you who have stood up to Fight FOCA, pro-abortion forces are focusing on another tactic for now – FOCA-by-Stealth.
They want to try to pass pieces of FOCA under your nose. The first target is your pocketbook.
The top priority for Planned Parenthood and their pro-abortion allies is to repeal the laws that prohibit federal funding of abortion. Often called pro-life “riders,” the pro-abortion forces want House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to eliminate them and start using our tax dollars to pay for abortion-on-demand . . . nationwide.
Thankfully, a bi-partisan group of Members of Congress are standing up to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood (who used to work for Speaker Pelosi). A letter to Speaker Pelosi written by Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Democrat Congressman Heath Shuler of North Carolina is being circulated for signatures by Members of Congress.
Please ask your member of Congress to sign the Jordan/Shuler letter.
The deadline is this Friday, February 20.
Yours for Life,
Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO
AUL Action, The Legislative Arm of Americans United for Life
That letter from AUL Action has a link to a site where you can write directly to your Member of Congress:
https://secure3.convio.net/aulact/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=133
The letter provided there can be used as a model for a letter of your own:
Dear [Decision Maker],
As a constituent who lives in your district, I am writing to ask you to sign onto the Jordan/Shuler letter addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking her to keep the current, longstanding pro-life policies in place in federal appropriations bills. The reported deadline for signing this letter is Friday, February 20.
I oppose the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and any similar measure – including those efforts to implement FOCA one step at a time through the Congressional appropriations process. I encourage you to support provisions such as those that protect taxpayers from being compelled to pay for abortions and the destruction of human embryos, protect the consciences of healthcare professionals, and prevent the U.S. funding of organizations that support coercive abortions or involuntary sterilization overseas.
The Jordan/Shuler letter is an important statement about the priority that these and other pro-life provisions should have in the debate over future appropriations bills. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
If you want to send a letter without going through the AUL Action site, consider using the government site www.house.gov where you can look up your Member of Congress.
