By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Hundreds of pro-abortion lobbyists converged on Capitol Hill yesterday to pressure lawmakers to remove the pro-life Stupak amendment from health care reform.
Dubbed “Stop Stupak-Pitts Lobby Day,” the event was sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation and co-sponsored by pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, NARAL, the National Abortion Federation, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and the ACLU.
LifeSiteNews.com is reporting that an overflow crowd of abortion supporters packed into the auditorium and Russell Caucus room in the Dirksen Senate Building at noon to learn from pro-abortion lawmakers how to lobby congressmen to remove the Stupak amendment from health care reform.
With Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards acting as Master of Ceremonies, attendees heard from lawmakers such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Rep. Jerrod Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA).
Rep. Lynn Woolsey argued that the Stupak amendment went beyond the Hyde-amendment, which prohibits tax payer funded abortions, saying the new amendment even prevents women from using their own money for abortion.
Even though this contention has been debunked by the non-partisan Politifact.org, Woolsey warned the women: “Don’t let any office tell you that the Stupak amendment is Hyde revisited. It is not. If they say it, you tell them that’s not true: it’s way, way more serious than that and it takes even more away from women than the Hyde amendment does.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney praised President Obama for his dedication to their efforts against the amendment. “Fortunately, we have President Obama on our side,” she said.
Rev. Carlton Veazey, President and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and a minister of the National Baptist Convention, criticized the involvement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), saying “No one religion, no theological perspective, should get the kind of weight that they can put pressure on the Congress . . . we believe that no religion should carry that kind of weight in legislation.”
He also said that women not only have a constitutional right for abortion, “but you have a God-given right – given to you by God.”
At one point during the rally, Cecile Richards orchestrated a round of applause in memory of late-term abortionist George Tiller.
In spite of the rally, pro-life leaders are questioning whether lawmakers will be willing to vote against the majority of Americans who say they don’t want taxpayer-funded abortion included in health care reform.
“As intimidating as the coat hanger deliveries might be, the longer term effect of voting for a health care bill that involves every American in almost every abortion that takes place in the nation will be far more consequential in the minds and actions of voters,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony list.
“It is amazing to me to see Planned Parenthood, who would benefit financially from the current national healthcare legislation, join up with their pro-abortion allies to continue to further their lies about what the Stupak-Pitts status quo amendment really does,” remarked Students for Life executive director Kristan Hawkins.
“Their tired rhetoric of the 1970s no longer works and they now know with their declining profits each year they need this Obama healthcare bill to stay in business,” said Hawkins.
“At the end of the day, Planned Parenthood and their pro-abortion allies only care about their own survival and not the best interest of American women.”
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