Dems Threaten to Kill Health Care Bill Over Abortion

Both sides have vocal opponents, could halt bill without compromise

(NEWSER) - With a last-second concession barring federal dollars from funding abortions, Nancy Pelosi largely skirted the full brunt of the issue, but Harry Reid may not be so lucky. The Senate majority leader likely won't get the 60 votes he needs without similar language— which a Planned Parenthood VP calls a “middle-class abortion ban”—but pro-choice lawmakers could also stall a too-restrictive bill, Politico reports. More»

She thinks we can expect taxpayer dollars to fund abortions

(NEWSER) - Bart Stupak and Kathleen Parker take the fight over abortion funding to the op-ed pages of the Washington Post today.

• In his column , Stupak takes exception to Parker calling him a "backstabber" in a previous column and insists that President Obama's executive order is an "ironclad" guarantee that no federal funds will pay for abortions. "I have said from the start that my goal was to see health-care reform pass while maintaining the long-standing principle of the sanctity of life." This deal got exactly that.

Randy Neugebauer of Texas says he wasn't talking about Bart Stupak

(NEWSER) - A Republican Congressman from Texas came forward this afternoon and copped to yelling "baby killer" on the floor of the House last night—but says he wasn't talking about Bart Stupak. "In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase 'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership," Randy Neugebauer said in a statement . "I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill." More»

Obama will issue executive order reiterating Hyde Amendment

(NEWSER) - President Obama will sign an executive order forbidding the use of federal funding for abortion, and Bart Stupak and his anti-abortion allies will vote to pass health care reform, the Michigan Democrat announced this afternoon. The shift means the measure is almost certain to pass when it's voted on tonight. Stupak insisted that he supported reform, but "there was a principle that meant more to use than anything, and that was the sanctity of life," reports Talking Points Memo . More»

Unless Senate's abortion language is changed, he's out

(NEWSER) - Bart Stupak, of “Stupak Amendment” fame, is ready to make a stink about abortion in the health care bill again. As the House moves to vote on the Senate’s version of the health care bill, Stupak says he can’t accept the abortion language in the bill. “If you go to page 2069 through page 2078, you would find in there the federal government would directly subsidize abortions,” he told ABC today. More»