House Oks Vote On Stupak Amendment To Cut Abortion Funding From Health

[StColette]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In a surprise move after hours of tumultuous negotiations, the House Rules Committee, very early Saturday morning, approved rules for debate on the pro-abortion health care bill. Although it appeared Speaker Nancy Pelosi would deny one, it allows a vote on an amendment to remove abortion funding.

Pelosi's hand appeared to have been forced when pro-abortion House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced earlier in the day that she did not have enough votes to pass the bill because of objections from pro-life Democrats.

The committee okayed a Rule that allows the House to vote on the Stupak amendment, offered by pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, to the health care reform legislation.

Stupak had dozens of Democrats who threatened to vote against the Rule and the bill if he did not get a vote on his amendment. If the amendment is defeated, Stupak and pro-life Democrats will likely still oppose the bill because of the abortion funding.

The bill, HR 3962, currently funds abortions in two ways -- by allowing the public option (or government-run health care program) to pay for abortions and by allowing the affordability credits the government would give to consumers to be used to pay for health care plans that fund abortions.

The Stupak amendment would apply the fundamental principles of the Hyde amendment, which has long prohibited abortion funding under the Medicaid and HHS programs, to the health care reform bill and essentially prohibit all government funding of abortion under it.

Douglas Johnson, the legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com after the committee vote on the Rule that the vote on the Stupak could be the most important abortion-related vote cast in Congress since Roe.

"This will be one of the most important roll call votes that U.S. House members ever casts on a pro-life issue," he said. "Any lawmaker who votes against the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is, in effect, voting in favor of establishing a federal government program that will directly fund abortion on demand, with federal funds."

Johnson urged all pro-life advocates to call both the Washington and in-state offices of their representatives in the U.S. House to urge support for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.

The vote on the Stupak amendment could decide the fate of the health care reform bill -- because das many as 40 pro-life Democrats could vote against the bill if the Stupak amendment is not adopted and the abortion funding remains.

The House Rules Committee vote came after a long night of negotiation and discussions that, at one point, seemed as if they had gone out of control and would have resulted in the allowance of a limited amendment to only remove abortion funding out of the public option but not the affordability credits.

Stupak told Fox News late in the day that he had "not received any assurances by the Speaker that (the amendment) would be made in order."

"I have not had a deal with the Speaker," he said before the committee allowed a vote on his amendment. "If our amendment is made in order, I believe it will pass. " We've had so many agreements, I don't believe anything unless it's on paper."

Abortion advocates in the House were livid that Stupak's amendment would get a vote.

"There will be no abortion, not just with public funds, but with private funds under the public option, and that's not acceptable," Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, claimed.

And Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, fired off a press release blasting the deal top Democrats made with Stupak and his pro-life Democratic coalition.

She claimed the amendment would force private insurance companies to drop abortion coverage even though "the majority of private health insurance plans currently offer abortion coverage" -- a statistic that has been challenged as untrue.

She said the Stupak amendment "upends the carefully crafted compromise in the House bill and unambiguously restricts women's access to care."

The allowance of a vote on the Stupak amendment came after the nation's Catholic bishops delivered a final letter to members of Congress on Friday asking for a vote.

Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops conference's pro-life office, told the Washington Post that the bishops would drop their objections to the health care bill if the Stupak amendment is added and all abortion funding is removed.

"We become enthusiastic advocates for moving forward with health care reform," he said, if that happens.

The Post described the chaotic scene as advocates on both sides of the abortion divide sought to allow or prevent a vote on the Stupak amendment.

"Negotiations between the two camps consumed much of the day Friday, as representatives from the warring factions shuttled into and out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office just off the Capitol Rotunda. A deal was finally struck shortly before 9:30 p.m., sending Stupak to the House Rules Committee to request official permission to offer his amendment -- permission that was finally granted shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday," it indicated.

"After the deal was struck, annoyed pro-choice leaders filed out of Pelosi's office to confer with their supporters," it concluded.

ACTION: Contact your members of the House of Representatives immediately at http://www.House.gov and urge a YES vote on the Stupak amendment to stop abortion funding in the health care bill. Also, urge your members to vote NO on the health care bill HR 3962 if the Stupak amendment is defeated.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat5629.html

[CatherineM]

Contacted mine this morning. C.W. Bill Young has a 100% pro-life voting record, so I'm not worried about his vote, but it's always nice to let them know they are on the right track.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='07 November 2009 - 11:38 AM' timestamp='1257611895' post='1997732']
Contacted mine this morning. C.W. Bill Young has a 100% pro-life voting record, so I'm not worried about his vote, but it's always nice to let them know they are on the right track.
[/quote]
Do you still have US citizenship?

[Archaeology cat]

Contacted mine yesterday, and he's most defintiely against abortion, and against the reform bill being put to the vote.

[Slappo]

Contacted my house rep, Don Young who says (not in reply to me, just his stance on the issue):

My opinion on this subject has and always will remain consistent. I have been pro-life throughout my career, and my well-known voting record shows this fact. I believe that the loss of life through abortion is a great moral disaster, and I will continue to vote against any bills that would in any way promote the use of abortion as a method of family planning. I believe that the act of abortion is unacceptable unless the life or health of the mother is endangered by her pregnancy, or in cases where rape or incest is involved.

Edited November 7, 2009 by Slappo

[Marie-Therese]

My rep (Mike Rogers, R-AL) is in opposition to the bill, but I wrote him a note anyway, encouraging him to oppose the bill in any compromise form, because of its potential assault on life at all stages, including the unborn and the elderly.

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Raphael' date='07 November 2009 - 12:09 PM' timestamp='1257617398' post='1997780']
Do you still have US citizenship?
[/quote]
I don't have to give up my US citizenship to get Canadian citizenship. I won't have my Canadian citizenship for maybe a year yet. I was eligible to apply in September, but bureaucrats, paperwork, you know it takes as long as they want it to. I'll be a dual citizen, and I currently vote in the district that was my last residence in the U.S. They send me absentee ballots. I just voted in the St. Pete mayor's election. I read the St. Pete Times online everyday to stay informed on the local issues.

[littlesister]

Done. Thanks for the information!

[mommas_boy]

C-SPAN is currently reporting that the schedule for tonight's vote has been updated. It should air live at or around 9:30 ET. The Democrats are currently presenting their opposition to the Republican alternative. Debate on the Stupak amendment appears finished.

Edited November 8, 2009 by mommas_boy

[mommas_boy]

Stupak amendment adopted, 240-194.

[code]
Yea Nay Pres
Dem. 64 194 0
Rep. 176 0 1
Tot. 240 194 1
[/code]

Present vote by John Shadegg (R-Az).

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='mommas_boy' date='07 November 2009 - 10:21 PM' timestamp='1257650494' post='1998006']
Stupak amendment adopted, 240-194.

[code]
Yea Nay Pres
Dem. 64 194 0
Rep. 176 0 1
Tot. 240 194 1
[/code]

Present vote by John Shadegg (R-Az).
[/quote]

Alleluia!!! Pro-Life Dems, I owe you a debt of gratitude.

[CatherineM]

See, being a Pro-life Democrat isn't an oxymoron.

[King's Rook's Pawn]

Good news. Too bad the rest of the bill is still horrible.

[KnightofChrist]

This is still early in the game, if this bill ultimately becomes law. This Amendment could easily be taken out before the it becomes law. And it will certainly be challenged again, and again. Even if it becomes law it will still be challenged.

[Brother Adam]

The bill passed the house. There is a reason republicans unanimously reject the bill.