It is imperative that we really try to know our candidates if we are to make intelligent decisions when we cast our votes.

Leaving all discussion of Sent. Barack Obama’s background and associations to someone else, I think it is important to familiarize ourselves with his documented legislative record and his proposals for the future, especially concerning the most vital moral issue facing our country today: the unnecessary deaths of more than one million American babies every year, almost 4,000 every day, by legalized abortion.

In a previous letter, there was information of how Obama led the fight to kill the bill in the Illinois Senate which would have mandated legal protection for babies who survived attempted abortion and would have provided medical care for the little survivors equal to that received by other newborns. He voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act three times.

There is another grave reason for the senators’ 100 percent approval rating by Planned Parenthood, National Abortion Rights Action League and the National Organization for Women. He is a co-sponsor of the “Freedom of Choice Act” and promised these groups that enacting this legislation would be his priority and vowed his first act as president would be signing it into law.

In case you’re not familiar with FOCA, this act is so extreme that it would strip away any and all restrictions that any states have placed on abortion.

For example FOCA would:

Nullify the Supreme Court ban on partial birth abortion, making that gruesome procedure legal again.

Require taxpayer funding for abortion on demand.

Invalidate any state requirement that abortions be performed by licensed physicians.

Bar any state from requiring abortions be performed in a hospital for safety reasons after the first trimester.

Eliminate all laws protecting doctors or other state-licensed health providers or hospitals who decline to provide or pay for abortions for moral reasons.

Eliminate the “informed consent” law requiring women be given information on such matters as fetal development and alternatives to abortion. Mississippi currently has this law.

 Eliminate state required waiting period of 24 hours to provide time for consideration and to reduce decisions made under pressure.

Invalidate parental involvement laws. Currently, Mississippi requires the consent of both parents; Louisiana requires the consent of one parent. This requirement can be waived by a judge if he feels an exception is warranted.

Allow your minor daughter to be taken across state lines to obtain an abortion without your permission.

The promoters of the Freedom of Choice Act claim that the bill’s purpose is to simply “codify Roe vs Wade,” which is already in place, is a misleading marketing gimmick.

In reality, FOCA would nullify even the most reasonable restrictions on abortions that the Supreme Court has permitted, including those enacted by individual states such as Mississippi.

If you oppose this bill, please contact your senators and let them know how you feel.

And please give careful consideration to your valuable vote. Sen. Obama has repeatedly given lip service to reaching out to help the poor, the weak and the vulnerable.

That is a perfect description of an unborn child who is, in many ways, the most vulnerable of the poor. However, the senator’s voting record does not match up with his words, unless the intention is to discriminate against an entire group of persons by excluding the unborn and even the newly born if they were tagged for an abortion.

Virginia O’Beirne is the co-chair of Pro-Life Natchez-Adams County.