Bart Stupak: Sidebar Bill Could Cut Abortion in Health Care, Prospect Unlikely

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 3, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Bart Stupak: Sidebar Bill Could Cut Abortion in Health Care, Prospect Unlikely

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 3
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Rep. Bart Stupak, the leading pro-life Democrat in the House, said in an interview with MSNBC today that pro-life Democrats are holding fast against the Senate health care bill. He also mentioned the possibility of a sidebar bill that could cut abortion in health care but its prospects seem unlikely at best.

With President Barack Obama and pro-abortion Democrats moving ahead with their reconciliation plan to push the pro-abortion Senate health care bill, all eyes are on pro-life Democrats like Stupak and others.

He confirmed today that there are enough votes from pro-life Democrats to potentially kill the bill — something everyone in the abortion debate is closely watching.

"It’s accurate to say there are at least 12 of us who voted for healthcare that have indicated to the speaker and others that unless you change this language, we will vote against it," Stupak told MSNBC.

With the reconciliation process not able to stop the abortion funding in the Senate health care bill, Stupak said there is only one other idea House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can run with that would salvage the 13-15 votes changing from yes to no because of abortion funding.

He said he’s talked with Pelosi about a sidebar bill that the House and Senate would have to approve that would amend the health care law under the bill to make it so the new law doesn’t allow abortion funding.

"It would have to be a separate bill, you could sidebar it to the final bill," Stupak said. "One bill doesn’t pass without the other. They walk down the aisle together."

Such a bill would be similar to the Stupak amendment the House approved on a lopsided vote. However, the Senate rejected a similar amendment from Sen. Ben Nelson and there is no indication a second vote on a sidebar bill would result in a different outcome than before.

Stupak predicted that Democrats would refuse his overture to save the health care bill by banning abortion funding and he predicted Obama and his allies will be content with allowing the health care bill to die in the House because it funded abortions.

Related web sites:
Video of Stupak interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ce0izCoM0s

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