House Dems Say Anti-Abortion Amendment MUST Be Stripped or ELSE

The House Obamacare Abortion war is not done. Before the final vote on Saturday night, the house passed the Stupak Amendment, the only bi-partisan part of the bill. Sixty-four Democrats joined Republicans to pass the amendment, which if it wasn't passed would have caused the 40+ pro-life Democrats to vote no, putting Obamacare on the shelf next to Hillarycare. The Stupak amendment prohibits abortion coverage in the public insurance option included in the House bill and would also prevent private plans from offering coverage for abortion services if they accepts people who are receiving government subsidies.

The passing of the Stupak Amendment has roused the pro-choice forces out of their slumber.

On MSNBC this morning:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the Democrats’ chief deputy whip in the House, said that she and other pro-abortion rights lawmakers would work to strip the amendment included in the House health bill that bars federal funding from going to subsidize abortions.

“I am confident that when it comes back from the conference committee that that language won't be there,” Wasserman Schultz said during an appearance on MSNBC. “And I think we're all going to be working very hard, particularly the pro-choice members, to make sure that's the case.”

The WAPO reports that at least 40 members of congress have signed a petition vowing to change their yes votes to no, if the Stupak amendment is in the final bill:

Although House liberals voted for the bill with the amendment to keep the process moving forward, Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) said she has collected more than 40 signatures from House Democrats vowing to oppose any final bill that includes the amendment -- enough to block passage.

"There's going to be a firestorm here," DeGette said. "Women are going to realize that a Democratic-controlled House has passed legislation that would prohibit women paying for abortions with their own funds. . . . We're not going to let this into law."

 Plumline has published a copy of the letter (without the signatures):

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232 Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Madam Speaker:

As members of Congress we believe that women should have access to a full range of reproductive health care. Health care reform must not be misused as an opportunity to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment to H.R. 3962, The Affordable Healthcare for America Act, represents an unprecedented and unacceptable restriction on women’s ability to access the full range of reproductive health services to which they are lawfully entitled. We will not vote for a conference report that contains language that restricts women’s right to choose any further than current law.

Missing are words such as "we are disappointed" or "we may not vote." These members of congress are telling the Speaker definitively, its got to go or else!

In the end whether Obamacare gets passed or not may very well come down to the Civil War going on in the Democratic Party and which side will hold their ground. If each side believes in their cause, it seems that no compromise is possible. But then again, this is politics.