They Just Want This Over [Robert Costa]
Sitting in an airport, on his way home to Michigan, Rep. Bart Stupak, a pro-life Democrat, is chagrined. Theyre ignoring me, he says, in a phone interview with National Review Online. Thats their strategy now. The House Democratic leaders think they have the votes to pass the Senates health-care bill without us. At this point, there is no doubt that theyve been able to peel off one or two of my twelve. And even if they dont have the votes, its been made clear to us that they wont insert our language on the abortion issue.
According to Stupak, that group of twelve pro-life House Democrats the Stupak dozen has privately agreed for months to vote no on the Senates health-care bill if federal funding for abortion is included in the final legislative language. Now, in the debates final hours, Stupak says the other eleven are coming under enormous political pressure from both the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). I am a definite no vote, he says. I didnt cave. The others are having both of their arms twisted, and were all getting pounded by our traditional Democratic supporters, like unions.
Stupak says he also doesnt trust the Slaughter solution, a legislative maneuver being bandied about on Capitol Hill as a way to pass the Senate bill in the House without actually voting on it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, he says. I dont have a warm-and-fuzzy feeling about what Im hearing.
Stupak notes that his negotiations with House Democratic leaders in recent days have been revealing. I really believe that the Democratic leadership is simply unwilling to change its stance, he says. Their position says that women, especially those without means available, should have their abortions covered. The arguments they have made to him in recent deliberations, he adds, are a pretty sad commentary on the state of the Democratic party.
What are Democratic leaders saying? If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. Thats one of the arguments Ive been hearing, Stupak says. Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life were talking about.
If Obamacare passes, Stupak says, it could signal the end of any meaningful role for pro-life Democrats within their own party. It would be very, very hard for someone who is a right-to-life Democrat to run for office, he says. I wont leave the party. Im more comfortable here and still believe in a role within it for the right-to-life cause, but this bill will make being a pro-life Democrat much more difficult. They dont even want to debate this issue. Well probably have to wait until the Republicans take back the majority to fix this.
Throughout this debate, even when the House leaders have acknowledged us, its always been in a backhanded way, he laments. Im telling the others to hold firm, and well meet next week, but Im disappointed in my colleagues who said theyd be with us and now theyre not. Its almost like some right-to-life members dont want to be bothered. They just want this over.
And the politics of the issue are pretty rough. This has really reached an unhealthy stage, Stupak says. People are threatening ethics complaints on me. On the left, theyre really stepping it up. Every day, from Rachel Maddow to the Daily Kos, it keeps coming. Does it bother me? Sure. Does it change my position? No.
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