Stupak is clearly trying to tank health care reform and think that abortion rights are the way to do it. But it's really win win for them, either way. If it doesn't tank the bill completely, it will likely be because the Democrats refuse to fight for abortion coverage, so the anti-choice zealots win a big one even if some form of withered health care reform passes.
Rep. Bart Stupak doesn’t plan to vote for Congress’s latest health overhaul package – and abortion isn’t the only reason why.
The Michigan Democrat became a pivotal player in the health debate last fall when he threatened to sink the bill because it didn’t exclude insurance coverage of abortion from government-subsidized health plans. In recent days, he’s reiterated that he objects to the Senate’s more-lenient treatment of abortion coverage that would almost certainly be part of any final health legislation.
In an interview today, Stupak said abortion isn’t the only issue that will keep him from voting for the Senate bill if Speaker Nancy Pelosi brings it to the House floor. “It’d be very hard to vote for this bill even if they fixed the abortion language,” he said. Asked whether there was any way he would vote for the current package, he had one word: “Nope.”
Abortion-rights activists regard Stupak as “obsessed,” motivated by religious beliefs, and unwilling to compromise. They allege that he may not truly support the president’s effort to overhaul the health-care system, pointing out his ties to groups like Focus on the Family and the National Right to Life Committee, which opposed the expansion of S-CHIP, the state program that provides health care to poor children.