UPDATE March 21: Stupak betrays pro-life position, settles for Executive Order which cannot, in itself, eliminate abortion funding in Obamacare.
All week, the buzz has been whether pro-life Democrats will continue to follow Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, and NOT vote for Obamacare.
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In a radio interview today, Stupak revealed what transpired after he gave Rep. Henry Waxman a copy of the pro-life language needed:
Waxman: But we want to pay for abortions!
Stupak: We don’t do it now, we’re not going to start.
Waxman: But we think [we] should!
Stupak: I’m sorry, but the House has spoken. We had that debate. We won 240-190… fair and square.
“If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing,” said Stupak.
Attempts to mollify Stupak with language for the Senate bill are over. “It’s been made clear to us that they won’t insert our language on the abortion issue,” Stupak told National Review today.
Waxman is not to be ignored, as Chair of the Energy & Commerce committee which oversees public health. He is one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s top lieutenants and one of the main lawmakers crafting the final language of the government-run health care bill.
“The other [pro-life Democrats] are having both of their arms twisted, and we’re all getting pounded by our traditional Democratic supporters, like unions,” Stupak added. “I really believe that the Democratic leadership is simply unwilling to change its abortion stance, and abortion funding will only be stopped when Republicans take back Congress.”
