we still have a friend in the White House

The "Freedom of Choice Act" which Barack Obama promised Planned Parenthood he would sign on his first day in office is a life-destroying bill that wipes out all abortion restrictions across the nation. Parental notification, waiting periods, partial birth abortion bans, and conscious clauses for medical personnel would be eliminated. This last part is very distressing to our family as well as thousands of others who have studied and worked for years to have a professional career to help others in the community and provide for their families. If FOCA passes then many physicians, doctors, and pharmacists would be forced to participate in the horror of abortion, despite their religious objections or leave the field entirely. With 20% of hospitals in the US run by the Catholic Church it would compel these institutions to either close or embrace the culture of death. I don't know what this plan of President Bush's would be able to preserve, but at least he understands the severity of the issue.

A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job-discrimination laws.
The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or to assist in the performance of abortions or sterilization procedures because of their "religious beliefs or moral convictions."
It would also prevent hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and drugstores from requiring employees with religious or moral objections to "assist in the performance of any part of a health service program or research activity" financed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The protest from the commission comes on the heels of other objections to the rule by doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, state attorneys general and political leaders, including President-elect Barack Obama.
Obama has said the proposal will raise new hurdles to women seeking reproductive health services, like abortion and some contraceptives. Michael Leavitt, the health and human services secretary, said that was not the purpose.
Officials at the Health and Human Services Department said they intended to issue a final version of the rule within days. Aides and advisers to Obama said he would try to rescind it, a process that could take three to six months.
The proposal is supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals.
Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, said that in recent years, "we have seen a variety of efforts to force Catholic and other health care providers to perform or refer for abortions and sterilizations."