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Stupak, Working with GOP, Trying to Sink Abortion Compromise
An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to a Senate compromise on the place of abortion in health care legislation this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, the Conference Catholic Bishops, and other anti-abortion groups, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO.
The emails also demonstrate a previously unseen degree of coordination between Bart Stupak and the office of Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
The emails show that Stupak - who has so far remained silent on language
accepted by Senator Ben
Nelson (D. Neb.) and faces intense pressure from the White House to
accept it - is already working behind the scenes to oppose the
compromise.
They also demonstrate a previously unseen degree of coordination between Stupak and the office of Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Stupak is the leader of a group of pro-life Democrats who say they'll oppose the sweeping legislation if it uses government money to pay for abortion, while McConnell is firmly committed to killing the legislation. The fact that the two have made common cause against the Senates health care compromise will likely further infuriate Stupak's Democratic colleagues in the House, and demonstrates his willingness to stop any bill that doesn't pass his test.
"Guys - when will we see your letters of opposition to the managers amendment?? We need them ASAP!" wrote Erika Smith, a Stupak aide, at 9:23 this morning, less than an hour after the amendment had become available.
The email's recipients included key staffers for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Right to Life, the Family Research Council, as well as Autumn Fredericks Christensen, aide to a top pro-life Republican Joe Pitts, and Lanier Swann, a McConnell aide.
A minute after Smith sent out her plea, Lanier reiterated it to the list.
"Nelson is telling people in the building he will vote yes. If there was any time to weigh in against this deal -- THIS IS IT," Swann wrote at 9:24 a.m.
As of early Saturday afternoon, the groups had not released statements on the compromise.
Stupak, too, has remained silent, and Stupak aides, including Smith, did not immediately respond to questions about the email chain.
The manager's amendment, which emerged after hours of negotiations between Nelson and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stops short of the total ban on health insurance plans that participate in a new exchange system offering abortion coverage. Instead, it includes a provision that allows states to prohibit abortion coverage in the exchanges
The amendment also requires that health plans that provide abortion services separate, for accounting purposes, private premiums and federal funds, and ensure that the federal funds don't pay for abortion services, a maneuver derided in the past by anti-abortion groups as a shell game.
The compromise paved the way for a Senate vote on President Obamas top priority, but the frantic emails this morning suggest the House may remain an obstacle.
28 Comments so far
Show AllReconcile.
A prolife democrat who also supports war? Yah, I'll buy that for a dollar.
The reality is that Stupid and other prolifers are not prolife, they are proslave. They first want to enslave the women to their uterus', then should they achieve that, they'll start trying to enslave the rest of us to their version of the bible. They're not just nuts, they're dangerous.
They're willing to see everyone go without health care reform (as bad as the 'reform' is) than to let women have access to abortion. They've also been in favour of having abstinence sex-ed as the best way of teaching people how not to have kids. In spite of the evidence that that form of 'education' is utterly worthless.
To be honest, I kinda hope they do shoot down the senate's version of healthcare reform. I can't see anything good coming out of the deal that the reps have put together. Perhaps if the congress' version of reform is shot down, Obama might then do the right thing and just expand medicare to cover everyone. I'm not to hopeful that such a thing would actually happen, in fact I'd sooner believe that Jesus would actually return before that would happen...
I'm hoping Bernie Sanders and some others will join with them. That would be an even better outcome.
Mega Dittos, Rush, and go Mitch!
Now excuse me while I heave up my lunch, laugh out loud.
No seriously, did you know that if this bill fails, Lord Obama would have no alternative but to settle for passing the obviously good things like no pre-existing conditions and no lifetime caps? (Well, he could resign instead.) But most likely, if the bill fails, you would get much of the good without most of the bad, because the Democrats would still have to pass something.
fool
Pity, by following the opinion of long dead Jewish authors of fiction
our churches have turned this country into another Vast Wasteland.
Who will bring salvation this time? The old gods are dead. Pity.
no comment.
i happen to be a progressive who is personally opposed to abortion. it seems that we could just go back to roe v. wade and allow a woman an unfettered right to abortion during her first trimester, with the state having more of a say in the matter as her pregnancy progresses. in european countries, there is an absolute cutoff after fifteen weeks. maybe there is some middle ground here to be had, especially if the right would give up its idea of abstinence only education and the notion that teenagers should not have ready access to contraception. abortion sould not be part of the health care debate, as again obama has fallen on his knees before the bishops, just like he has cowered before the generals, both american and honduran, and to the cheneys, both dick and liz. medical costs will skyrocket under this bill, and i hope that house progressives will abandon it and let it die the death it deserves.
johnny u: "in european countries, there is an absolute cutoff after fifteen weeks"
Not true, the so-called gestation periods vary greatly from a low of 10 weeks (Slovenia) to a high of 28 weeks on Cyprus. In Ireland there is no stated limit and abortion is prohibited on Malta. The typical gestation period of the larger countries is 12-13 weeks with UK the exception with 24 weeks.
In most European countries abortion is available on request and is covered by health insurance. However, in Ireland abortion is allowed only to save the life of the mother. In Poland, Spain, and Portugal only to save the life of the mother or her physical or mental health. In Finland and UK only to save the life of the mother, her physical or mental health, and for economic or social reasons which is almost identical in practice to on request.
It is interesting to note that the country with by far the lowest abortion rate, the Netherlands, is also the one that has been blasted as Godless by the US antis. The reason why the Netherlands has the lowest rate is well understood. That country has the best and most extensive sex education of youngsters of all European countries. Most other countries have no sex education for youngsters or oldsters. Evidently old habits die extremely slowly.
Mitch McConnell and Bart Stupak, two bible thumping Jesus freaks who have never adopted.
I don't give any credence to a pro-lifer that hasn't adopted. These guys are just religious nuts that won't lift a finger to help orphaned children. (As are 90% of all pro-lifers)
I think that would be more like 99%.....
And they want everybody to be just like them.
In the spirit of the season, let us all hold hands with Stupak and McConnell (yuck) and say a few words over the grave of Government Run Healthcare. Letting the various bishops in, letting the competition for earmarked bribes, and the escalation of schemes of corporate bailouts and giveaways got to be too much for this round of profits and morality legislation, and the poor old beast gave up the ghost. RIP. Next time, start with addressing the problem of the extra $400 billion a year we're all paying to not have healthcare and work from there.
The Conference Catholic Bishops.
How many seats in the House do these guys have?
Good question.
From a Conference of Catholic bishops website: One of President Bush's first acts upon taking office was to establish a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, to take the lead in promoting, strengthening and expanding grassroots and faith-based services. The Office works with federal agencies, Congress, and state and local governments...
H.R. 7 " The Community Solutions Act: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops supported H.R. 7, a bill to implement parts of the faith-based initiative... expanding charitable choice to several federal social service programs while protecting the religious freedom of both organizations and individuals...
"Charitable choice" refers to allowing religious organizations to participate in government programs on the same terms as other organizations, without altering their religious character...This aspect of H.R. 7 generated much controversy and ideological and partisan debate during the House consideration of the bill.
S. 1924 " The Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act: In the aftermath of September 11 and with the downturn in the economy...Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) worked closely with President Bush to develop a package of measures to assist faith-based and other charitable organization, and on February 9, 2002 introduced the Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act, S. 1924. Among the CARE Act"s provisions: tax-code changes to encourage private charitable giving, including a more generous charitable deduction for non-itemizers than the one in H.R. 7; funding for a Compassion Capital fund to provide technical assistance to small charities; and significant additional resources for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program...
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/fblmg.shtml
Obama kept Bush's faith-based office, instead of standing up for the separation of church and state:
On Feb. 5, 2009, two weeks after taking office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The new office retains the basic administrative structure of President George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The central White House office and satellite offices in 12 government agencies work together to encourage partnerships between the government and religious and community groups for the delivery of social services.
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=432
====
How can the Conference of Catholic Bishops influence legislation, receive tax dollars and still keep their religious exemptions? Why have they acquired the representative right to control how women spend healthcare dollars? What happened to the Democratic Party that supported the separation of church and state? Would the party support a legislation on behalf of women who don't support religious control over family planning? How about a conscientious objectors prohibition on taxes being spent on war? Why have both versions of Bush given such support to the kickbacks to organized religion in politics? And why, alas, is Joe Lieberman involved again?
And are the religious organizations benefiting from a tax-exempt status?
Marian Cole
An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to a Senate compromise on the place of abortion in health care legislation this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, the Conference Catholic Bishops, and other anti-abortion groups, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO.
I did not vote for these people and resent, mightly, their intrusion into the Safe Health Care of Women. These $1000.00, or above, suited and Gucci loafered types do not care one whit about the Health of women they just care about controlling us.
I worked in Hospitals when Women had absolutely no protection and sought to end their pregnancies themselves or were forced to seek the care of unlicensed charlatans who maimed, infected, sterilized and killed them.
We deserve the same safe Health Care that men receive.
I do not hear anything about regulating or stopping the Insurance Coverage for performance enhancing medications.
Is the German translation of "Stupak" what I think it is ??
Stupak, like Leiberman, relishes the chance to obstruct, at the expense of health of many thousands.
Bush and Blair were both born again crusaders thrilled to have an opportunity to spread christianity in heathen lands and it is no accident that the more influence religion has the dumber the country becomes.
Stupak makes me ashamed of calling myself a Democrat!!!! He is just like all the other fascist Christian's! Given the the choice I will not vote for one like him. I am pro choice and vote that way whenever possible.
yesterday the senate gave obomba 686 bil for war. not a peep there!
The Christian rich, which is most all of our rich, if poor
women were by government given a lifesaving sanitary abortion,
such self-righteous rich would have a real problem.
For most women cherish adoring children above all things, and a
society so ungodly as ours that allowed 25% of children last year
to suffer hunger, a society into such a fake morality as to cause
abortion by making poor women so hate the though of their
children suffering emaciating hunger, surely all attention
would be on the root cause of abortion.
Root cause being our rich ruling class, surely they
would be joining Ben Laden in some cave in Afghanistan.
And , to my right wing christian brothers and sisters who dont want there dollars paying for abortions,,,, I say this,,,,,,
I DONT WANT MY TAX DOLLARS PAYING FOR ILLEAGAL WARS ,,, I CANT HEAR YOU CHRISTAINS.
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO,, STOP ABORTIONS AND NOT A WAR???? Is there a rightous acceptance of killing in Holy wars.Wars with countrys that did not attack us.
IF CHRISTIANS DONT START PROTESTING THESE WARS, WE WILL BE AT WAR FOR THE NEXT 500 YEARS, THEY WILL PUT US UNDER MARTIAL LAW , AND SPEND US INTO OBLIVIAN.
BUT , ITS A HOLY WAR, SO INVADING AND KILLING IN COUNTRYS THAT HAVE NOT ATTACKED US IS OK WITH CHRISTIANS. BUT ABORTION IS THE ACT OF DEVILS.
Jesus came to me in a dream last night, he told me that war is bad, he also told me that women should be respected and allowed to make decisions about thier own bodies.
And that my tax dollars should not be spent on War or abortions.
But health care for all Americans , by forcing me to pay into an unconstitutional public option, would be a forgiven sin....
Thank you Jesus, Amen.
END DIVISION ---- NATION-WIDE VOTE
For the majority of Americans are in favor of government funded abortions,
as they surely do not want the guilt of causing poor women to be wasted
in back alleys because government failed to give them a sanitary abortion.
Yes___ No___ In the eyes of heaven the greater of two evils is for society
to allow poor women to die in back-alleys because of a filthy abortion.
The rich ruling class refuse to allow a nationwide vote on abortion and
owning all of mainstream media, refuse to tell the public the truth in order
to keep America divided. For the moment we the people came together in
peace, the days of mansions and excessive wealth would be no more.
The greatest evil of all is to use the deadly force of government to
overcome evil. “Jesus said, ‘Do not use force to overcome evil.
If they slap you on the right cheek turn to them the other.” Mt 5:38
Stupak is as Stupak does. God save us from your preachers.
Why should progressives care that Stupak and Lieberman are obstructing a bad bill? Wouldn't they be doing us a favor if they manage to kill the bill? It's obvious that liberal Democrats in the media are focusing attention on Lieberman and Co. only because they want to divert attention from the real outrage, which is that virtually every liberal member of Congress is going to vote for the bill whatever it contains.