Bart Stupak: Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care DOA in House, Talks Ben Nelson

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 20, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Bart Stupak: Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care DOA in House, Talks Ben Nelson

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 20
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Bart Stupak, the leading pro-life Democrat in Congress who has led the fight against abortion funding in the health care bill, says the Senate version is dead on arrival in the House. Stupak, in a new interview, also says Sen. Ben Nelson should have held his ground on abortion funding in the Senate.

Stupak appeared on the Fox Business Network today and gave his reaction to the Senate victory of Scott Brown over pro-abortion stalwart Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.

The reaction so far from congressional Democrats has been that the House bill with the Stupak amendment is probably dead now and the only chance to save the legislation is to pass the Senate bill in the House.

But Stupak said, "I bet it wouldn’t get a hundred votes."

"The Senate bill, and I know leadership has flowed with the idea over the weekend that let’s just take the Senate bill and just vote on it in the House floor. I bet it wouldn’t get a hundred votes," he said.

"Everyone’s talking about Plan B, Plan B is dead. We’re not passing the Senate bill, so you best come up with Plan C now," he told Fox News.

Stupak also gave Fox News his impression of Nelson’s decision to cave in on allowing abortion funding in the Senate bill.

"Throughout the process, I talked a number of times to Senator Nelson. I never really saw his final proposal until maybe the day before they voted on it. And I encouraged him just to hold tough," he recalled. "He should have held on that principle."

He also said the Nelson language deviated from the simple concept of no abortion funding under the bill.

"The Nelson Amendment did a number of different things and got so complicated. I mean, mine’s a two-page amendment. Every time you look at these amendments, whether it’s the Nelson Amendment or the Capps Amendment, which started this whole fight, if you will, they’re all 10 to 12 pages," he added. "It’s sort of like when the American people say, wait a minute, there’s no public funding for abortion, you can put that on one page. Why do you need 12 pages to try to explain what you’re doing?"

Stupak talked about why voters in such a liberal state like Massachusetts would vote for someone who would hold up the health care bill.

"Members are very upset about the Senate bill, and I think that’s what’s led to this — part of this election. I mean, people were disappointed and disillusioned what the Senate did, especially when — especially when it looked like states were paid off for their vote, for that 60th vote," he said.

Stupak also talked with the Weekly Standard today and said Democratic Party leaders appeared oblivious to the Brown election.

"He said that at last night’s Democratic caucus meeting, it seemed as if the Democratic leaders were operating on the assumption that Scott Brown wasn’t a factor," the conservative magazine indicated.

Stupak said, “We’re looking at each other like, yeah, well that’s that’s good, but … even if you reach agreement, can you have it done by tomorrow? Because you’re not going to have 60 votes come tomorrow. They filled us in and it was almost like there wasn’t an election in Massachusetts."

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