Posted on 02/26/2010 7:28:14 PM PST by Libloather
Pro-Abortion Democrats Renew Threat: No Health Care Bill With Stupak Amendment
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 24, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As the next chapter of the debate over the pro-abortion health care bill begins, pro-abortion House Democrats are renewing their pledge not to support any bill with the Stupak amendment. That's the amendment originally added to the House bill that ban all abortion funding.
The Senate did not attach the Stupak amendment to its version of the government-run health care bill and, instead included massive abortion funding and other pro-abortion problems.
With the reconciliation push on for the bill, there is likely no method pro-life lawmakers can use to add the Stupak amendment to the Senate health care bill -- which is what the White House and Democratic leaders are pushing through Congress.
But that hasn't stopped the most prominent pro-abortion activists from promising not to vote for the bill if the amendment is included.
Appearing on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show last night, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, spoke for dozens of her hardcore pro-abortion colleagues.
"It was at the last minute that Bart Stupak lined up enough Democrats and Republicans by saying that his amendment really was the status quo -- it really was not; this went way past the current law,'' she claimed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"The pro-choice members, 42 of us who signed a letter saying we want to maintain the status quo, will not vote for the bill if it includes the Stupak language," she added.
Concerning the Senate bill, the lawmaker said "that it is not going to pass if it has the Stupak language.''
For his part, Rep. Bart Stupak, a pro-life Michigan Democrat, says the new language in the proposed changes to the Senate health care bill President Barack Obama suggests are no good because they continue abortion funding.
"Unfortunately, the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion," Stupak says. "The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable."
He has said anywhere from 10-12 Democrats will join him in voting against the Senate bill because of the abortion funding and that could be enough to kill the bill in the House unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can find more votes for it to offset them.
Oh please don’t throw us in the briar patch.
Just gata’ love baby killers and their promoters. And yet their constituents keep electing these bas***ds. ;-(
Well, let’s see, now: without the Stupak amendment, 40 votes in the House defect and it dies in the House, with it, are there enough we-must-pay-to-kill-baby types in the Senate that it can’t pass even on a reconciliation vote?
What the hell is it with Democrats and dead babies?
As the article notes, there may be no way to add a Stupak ammendment to the Reconciliation Bill to remove the pro-abortion language in the Senate bill. If so, and if Stupak and his twelve or so supporters stick to there guns, that is the end of ObamaCare. It cannot pass without their votes.
I agree with your scenario. The House bill passed there with only 220 votes. This time Nanny Pelosi wont have Murtha, Cao, Abercrombie, or Wexler. That leaves only 216. Then subtract Stupak and fellow RATS who will not accept the Senate abortion language. I dont see any way that the House will adopt the version passed by the Senate in December. Which is the next step in the sordid process.
When the House fails to pass the Senate version, it’s all over. They have to start anew.
This violates the 30 year total ban on direct and indirect funding of abortion put forth by the Hyde amendment. Boxer & Murray were insistent that individuals who were receiving federal insurance subsidies should be able to use their own money for an abortion.
I watched some of the senate committee hearings, and heard the insistent argument that they needed to utilize the language of the Hyde amendment. Chairman Dodd said that he thought the language was ok. So the committee voted, the B/M gals got their way.
Senator Nelson (pro-life) fought to restore stricter language, and spent 13 hours arguing with Harry Reid, but he thought he would get a chance to filibuster it if he needed to stop it. He will not vote to approve the senate bill without the stupak language.
The House only passed their bill by 5. Pelosi has lost those 5 (retire etc). There are also about 64 house votes that were insisting on the Stupak - Pitts amendment. of these, there are approximately 10 pro life democrats that are not likely to vote for the Senate version as it is written.
Hence, Pelosi said the Senate has to go first. Reid says Pelosi must go first. The abortion issue could be what ultimately stops the Healthcare Obamanation.
“Oh please don’t throw us in the briar patch.”
Political suicide - wasted months talking about govt takeover of healthcare and insisting on taxpayer funded abortions while suffering jobless Americans and burdened taxpayers seeth.
... The Democrats really are pouring gasoline on themselves and lighting a match, arent they?
A Liberals too stupid to know math?
Apparently so.
Briefly:
October/November 2009, Health Care was stalled in the House, and the main sticking point was government funded abortions. There were enough Dems opposed to abortion who refused to vote for the HC bill if it contained any abortion language.
Representative Stupak (D) introduced his amendment that prohibited any government money from the HC bill being used to fund abortions. This essentially would end all abortions, as no medical procedures outside the Government HC System can be done. No going to a doctor and paying him directly for anything. Thus, with his amendment, ALL abortions would be illegal.
This amendment, if passed, would give the above ‘Pro-Life’ Democrats a green light to vote for the HC bill.
Not enough Democrats supported the Stupak Amendment for it to pass. Many Democrats were vociferously opposed to it. It could only pass with Republican votes.
National Right to Life favored the Stupak Amendment, and insisted that Republicans vote for it. Further, they threatened any Republican who didn’t vote for it with their active opposition to that Republican during this falls election.
The Republicans caved, even those who could see the eventual outcome, right down to the last man. One hundred percent voted for the Stupak Amendment, along with a bunch of Dems who were opposed to abortions. Stupak handily passed.
Nobody believed the Amendment would stick; eventually it would/will be overridden in some fashion. Abortion is the Prime Sacrament of the Left, and will not be denied government funding, let alone be made illegal.
With a green light, the ’Pro-Life’ Dems could vote for HC, and although many hard-line Leftists were angry, enough of them also could see the end game, and agreed to vote pass HC.
A couple days later HC passed the House.
Everyone knew how this would play out, and it did. Rush spoke about it on his show.
I am of the opinion even National Right to Life knew it would play out this way. I’m not aware of anyone who thought otherwise. That leaves us with two opinions of their leadership;
1. They are so locked into their ‘stop abortion at all costs’ viewpoint that they can’t operate with a strategy that goes beyond 24 hours. They Left likes to say that ‘conservatives are stupid and easily lead’, this situation is circumstantial proof that Leftists are right from time to time. I have called it the NRTL Stupid Strategy.
2. They have been in cahoots with the Pro-Abort crowd on this, and were complicit in getting HC passed, HC which will include a monthly premium from all of us to fund abortions. I call it the Evil Strategy.
Either way, too stupid, or just evil, they are unfit to lead the movement to reduce/end abortions. Their thuggish actions have brought us to the brink of the enslavement of 300 million Americans, ending of the most advanced medical care in the entire history of the world, and will lead, ironically, to Chinese style government mandated and government funded abortions.
I am unaware of any other organization that played such a pivotal role against Americans in this HC fight.
2. They have been in cahoots with the Pro-Abort crowd on this, and were complicit in getting HC passed, HC which will include a monthly premium from all of us to fund abortions. I call it the Evil Strategy.
Bump your post. They need to EXPLAIN THEMSELVES. Were they stupid, or evil?
And no health care Bill without it either-so the Democrats are divided on Abortion!
Exactly!
That has been the issue the entire time-the abortion issue.
But the Democrats don't want to be exposed as being divided on it, that the Senate version is pro-abortion and that is what Obama is pushing.
The Reconcilitation Bill won't solve anything.
Actually the opposition to abortion is the main thing holding up the passage of the health care bill now. In order to use the nuclear option, the House needs to pass the Senate bill as is, and then go to nuclear option(Reconciliation).
The anti-abortion democrats will not vote for the Senate bill without the Stupak language, and may be willing to see the whole bill fail rather than allow indirect funding of abortions in the Senate bill.
In addition, Senator Nelson (D) had planned to fillibuster if the stupak language was missing from whatever bill came out of the conference committee.
Legally, the bill is supposed to originate in the house, but Pelosi said she is not going first. It doen’t look like they have found a way to do it yet. So there you have it.
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