Not With Stupak

by digby

This is refreshing. An anti-choice Democrat tells the truth about the Nelson Amendment and admits that it will not result in more abortions or force anyone to pay for them against their will.

Representative Dale Kildee of Michigan is going to vote yes on HCR:

For those who know me, I have always respected and cherished the sanctity of human life. I spent 6 years studying to be a priest and was willing to devote my life to God. I came to Congress two years after the Hyde Amendment became law and I have spent the last 34 years casting votes to protect the lives of the unborn. I have stood up to many in my party to defend the right to life and have made no apologies for doing so. I now find myself disagreeing with some of the people and groups I have spent a lifetime working with. I have listened carefully to both sides, sought counsel from my priest, advice from family, friends and constituents and I have read the Senate abortion language more than a dozen times.

I am convinced that the Senate language maintains the Hyde Amendment, which states that no federal money can be used for abortion. The Senate bill includes a “conscience clause” and allows states to ban plans that include abortion. I also disagree with the argument that the Senate bill would lead to abortions being performed at community health centers. Under existing law (42 C.F.R. § 50.301), community health centers are prohibited from performing abortions.

We must not lose sight of what is at stake here — the lives of 31 million American children, adults, and seniors — who don’t have health insurance. There is nothing more pro-life than protecting the lives of 31 million Americans. Voting for this bill in no way diminishes my pro-life voting record or undermines my beliefs. I am a staunch pro-life member of Congress — both for the born and the unborn.”




It's not altogether straightforward. After all, studies show that this bill will likely end up restricting women's access to abortion, but at least he isn't claiming that this bill is nothing but a fetus-killing free for all the way Stupak does.

Greg Sargent points out that this hasn't moved everyone, however:

Kildee isn’t persuading all his fellow pro-life holdouts. Rep Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, for instance, is still strongly condemning the Senate bill.




I don't know what the Catholic Bishops are holding over Kaptur, but as Kildee writes, there's no reason for any "pro-life" member to vote against health care reform that contains the Nelson Amendment. This means that Kaptur is not being honest and is acting against the interests of all of her constituents in this very Democratic district in order to advance the political ambitions of the conservative Catholic Bishops. I don't see how we can trust this person going forward. She's voting "no" based on a lie.

Update: If nuns can defy the Catholic Bishops, surely Marcy Kaptur can:


On Monday, Catholic Bishops released a letter opposing the Senate health care reform bill because it didn't contain the Stupak language. While they acknowledged differences with the Catholic Health Association, their message was clear: they were speaking as the official and authoritative voice of the Catholic Church.

This analysis of the flaws in the legislation is not completely shared by the leaders of the Catholic Health Association. They believe, moreover, that the defects that they do recognize can be corrected after the passage of the final bill. The bishops, however, judge that the flaws are so fundamental that they vitiate the good that the bill intends to promote. Assurances that the moral objections to the legislation can be met only after the bill is passed seem a little like asking us, in Midwestern parlance, to buy a pig in a poke.

In a clear break with the bishops, 60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 nuns have joined with the Catholic Health Association to support the Senate bill as written.

The letter says that "despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions." The letter says the legislation also will help support pregnant women and "this is the real pro-life stance."


.