With tens of millions of postcards already distributed to Catholic schools and parishes, non-Catholic churches and civic organizations, the campaign to convince Congress not to reverse current pro-life policies or make abortion a right is more important than ever, according to a pro-life official.

"To guard against the erosion of current pro-life measures --- and to keep abortion from becoming a federal entitlement --- our voice is needed now more than ever," said Deirdre A. McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the U.S. bishops' Office of Pro-Life Activities, in a Feb. 4 statement.

"The massive campaign under way shows clearly that, regardless of how they voted, Catholics want to send a strong message to Congress to protect existing pro-life policies and to oppose the radical promotion of abortion," she added. "As the cards start flooding in, the new Congress will see that they should not divide our nation with policies that offend the pro-life values of the majority of Americans."

The national postcard campaign, launched Jan. 24-25 and expected to continue until mid-February, asks members of Congress to oppose any measures similar to the Freedom of Choice Act, which "would overturn many existing widely supported policies, including laws protecting parental involvement and conscience rights and those preventing partial-birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion."

The majority of U.S. dioceses are participating in the postcard campaign, according to a Feb. 4 news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"The current campaign is unprecedented and is expected to exceed any sponsored by the Catholic bishops in the past," the release said.

Through its partner organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, the USCCB has been sponsoring national postcard campaigns related to various pro-life causes since 1993.

The original campaign, held at the start of President Bill Clinton's first term in office, also targeted the Freedom of Choice Act.

"While FOCA would accomplish the abortion promotion agenda all at once, other bills could realize the same agenda in a piecemeal fashion," McQuade said.

"For example, widely supported pro-life measures in appropriations bills are already at risk, including the long-standing Hyde amendment, which has prohibited the use of taxpayer funds for most abortions, and the Hyde/Weldon amendment preventing government discrimination against health care providers who do not perform or refer for abortions," she added.

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, expressed similar concerns in a Feb. 5 letter urging members of Congress to retain pro-life provisions in the appropriations bills they must approve to keep the government funded past March 5.

"While an extreme proposal like FOCA would overturn hundreds of pro-life laws at once, we are equally concerned that such laws may be overturned one at a time during Congress' appropriations process," he wrote.

Among the specific provisions he cited were:
--- The Hyde amendment to the bill funding the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as parallel provisions barring taxpayer funding of abortions in military hospitals, federal employees' health benefits, foreign assistance and other circumstances.

--- The Dickey/Wicker amendment to the Labor/HHS appropriations bill, which bars federal funding of research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos or harm to them.

--- The Hyde/Weldon amendment guaranteeing the conscience rights of physicians and nurses who choose not to participate in abortions and hospitals that do not offer them.

--- The Kemp/Kasten amendment to the State/Foreign Operations appropriations bill, which prohibits U.S. funding of organizations that promote coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization overseas.

"At a time when more Americans than ever may require life-affirming assistance from the government for their basic needs, efforts to force Americans to subsidize the denial and destruction of life would be especially tragic," Cardinal Rigali wrote.

"Such efforts would radically divide our nation and increase distrust of Congress among millions of Americans, at a time when we need to unite in solidarity to serve the urgent needs of all," he added.

FOCA has not yet been introduced in the 111th Congress.

---CNS