Pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak holds firm on blocking ObamaCare-funded abortions, raising ire of Planned Parenthood, and worrying congressional leadership.
UPDATE 11/10/09: Stupak - The Man Who Made Pelosi Cry 'Uncle'
UPDATE 11/5/09: House Democrats lock horns over abortion funding in health care bill . . . while GOP leader posts: "Speaker Pelosi’s Government-Run Health Plan Will Require a Monthly Abortion Premium"
-- From "Planned Parenthood Assails Democratic Health Reform Critic" by Deborah Kotz, U.S. News & World Report 11/3/09
Add Planned Parenthood to the special interest groups assailing Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak for potentially holding up passage of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health reform bill until it clearly states that public funds cannot be used for abortions. He says the current bill leaves open that possibility, while Planned Parenthood says he's trying to reduce the number of insurance plans that currently cover abortions. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards described Stupak, the Michigan congressman, in ways the group normally reserves for talking about conservatives.
Richards says she doesn't think that "pro life" voices have gotten stronger in the Democratic Party: Stupak has always held his views, she says, and he's always been in the small minority.
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From "Democrats Near Deal on Abortion Coverage" by David M. Herszenhorn & David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times 11/3/09
Struggling to finish their big health care legislation, House Democratic leaders signaled Tuesday that they were prepared to make several changes to the bill to satisfy abortion opponents, including many Democrats, who had threatened to block it.
. . . Democratic leaders have little choice but to make some concessions. As many as 40 Democrats have said they might oppose the health care bill without tighter restrictions on abortion – a potentially decisive number.
Democratic aides said that Representative Brad Ellsworth, Democrat of Indiana, and a stalwart opponent of abortion, was working with House leaders on a deal that achieve two of his goals: prevent federal tax dollars from being used to pay for abortions, and guarantee the availability of insurance plans that do not cover abortions. Party leaders said they believed the deal would win over enough votes to advance the bill.
Generally speaking, Democrats had [falsely] argued that the health care legislation would make no change to existing federal laws regarding how tax dollars could be used to pay for abortions.
For weeks, a group of Democratic abortion opponents led by Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan had vowed that they had enough votes to block the legislation.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
