Stupak Knocks Senate Abortion Health Care Compromise, Would Defeat It in House
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 19, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Rep. Bart Stupak, the pro-life Michigan congressman who led the fight against the abortion funding in the House, says he doesn’t approve of the new abortion funding compromise in the Senate. The Democrat made it clear he would work to defeat the proposal if it makes it to the House.
Stupak, in an interview with Politico, called the deal Harry Reid and Ben Nelson struck on abortion funding "unacceptable."
He joined pro-life groups in saying the compromise marked "a dramatic shift in federal policy,” by undermining the Hyde amendment that has prohibited taxpayer funding of abortions since the 1970s.
Stupak also talked with Politico about a dustup that occurred Saturday morning, whereby one of his staffers sent out an email to pr-life Senate Republicans and pro-life organizations urging opposition to the Nelson amendment.
Somehow, Political got ahold of the email and a response and used them to write an article on how Stupak was reportedly working behind the scenes with Senate Republican Leader and pro-life Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to scuttle the pro-abortion health care bill in the Senate.
“I never talked to McConnell about the health care bill,” said Stupak.
However, Stupak will likely talk with his pro-life colleagues in the House about the Reid-Nelson language. He has repeatedly promised that if his authentic amendment to ban abortion funding is removed from the bill, he will oppose the health care bill.
His promise is important as the Senate moves forward to what are expected to be final votes on the filibuster and the government-run health care bill itself.
If the Senate approves the bill with the compromise intact, it will have approved different language than the House-backed bill and a conference committee will have to work out a final version.
If the conference committee removes the Stupak amendment and leaves the Reid-Nelson language in place, then pro-life Democrats in the House will likely vote against the conference committee bill and it could be defeated.
If the committee keeps the Stupak amendment in place,then pro-abortion House members have said they will vote to defeat the bill and their Senate colleagues may join them.
Either way, the battle over abortion and health care is far from over and pro-life advocates have several ways in which they can still defeat the pro-abortion, pro-rationing, pro-assisted suicide health care bill.
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
