By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Washington insiders say pro-life congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) and a group of 10 to 12 lawmakers are refusing to cave to any “sweetheart deals” and are standing firm in their intent to vote against any health care bill that contains abortion funding.
During a public appearance on Jan. 13, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), top Republican on the House Budget Committee, told Human Events reporter Connie Hair that he had spoken to Bart Stupak earlier in the day about the status of the secret health care bill negotiations.
“In my judgment Bart has been holding firm for his language, and from what I can tell, I see Bart holding firm for his language,” Ryan said about the author of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. “And he says he has 10 or 12 people who will vote with him.”
When asked if those 10 or 12 votes were in addition to the 39 Democrats who already voted against the bill, Ryan said, “yes. So my assumption is right now they’re trying to replace those votes.”
According to Hair, this means that if Democrats lose 10 to 12 of their votes over the abortion issue, “they have to turn seven to nine of their original 39 no votes into yes votes to pass their health care boondoggle. And that’s just the controversy over the abortion issue.”
The battle over abortion funding has reached its most critical moment, Hair says. “They know that if they don’t get the funding passed now, it’s unlikely they will get it passed in the foreseeable future, if ever.”
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