Stupak May be in Sen Bill, DeGette Prepares Fight!
09 November 2009 2:18 am by texan4hillary
http://tinyurl.com/yebg9dk
There is a very good reason why we needed the House to produce the strongest bill possible. A Medicare PO. No further compromises. Many thought the great battle would be over the public option in the Senate. It now appears it will be the abortion funding issue.
Rep DeGette, Deputy Whip of the House and Chair of the Pro Choice Caucus tonight tells the WaPo she has growing numbers of members ready to say NO to the final bill if the Stupak provision remains. DeGette she has already 40- enough to nix the final bill if needed. Anti Choice groups hail the Stupak win- the greatest blow to choice seen in a generation in America. Women who currently can receive abortion services via their private insurance plans will find, if Stupak passes, their ability to choose gone.
All plans would be forbidden to cover abortions deemed “elective.” As PP head Richards says this is a de facto ban on a woman’s right to choose. Rep DeGette will be the leader of pro choice forces on the Hill to get Stupak stripped from the conf bill.
Oh and to those who thought at least our ever so wondrous Senate wouldn’t have in its bill the Stupak amendment you are wrong. Sens. Casey and Nelson vow to put Stupak in the Sen version. Reid is still drafting his bill. My fear is he will work this in to avoid a floor fight.
Nelson promises to not only attack choice, but go after the anti trust provisions in the House bill. He is telling Reid he won’t vote for the bill pretty much, but anti trust in the Sen bill would lead to a NO vote. Reid is indicating according to NYT that he will drop this provision to suite Nelson. If he is so willing to drop a key part of the bill like that want to bet Reid will adopt Stupak!
We have a huge fight ahead of us. What started as a battle to cover all Americans is becoming one to ensure women have the right to choose- the right over their bodies.
Let’s support Rep De Gette in her fight leading the 190 member Pro Choice Caucus in killing this outlandish de facto ban on abortion in America. Call the Hill and tell her your thanks and support. She will need it!
see link for rest…
This post was submitted by texan4hillary.
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texan4hillary says:
“Reid is still drafting his bill. My fear is he will work this in to avoid a floor fight.”
It should be added that Harry Reid will also view this through a re-election mindset. Not a very popular guy in Nevada.
Related to TM earlier post.
As for the influence on of the Catholic Bishops. Sure they had influence, but the question should be asked if the Catholic Bishops really had that much impact, or is that just an excuse to get some kind or any kind of health bill through the House? See today’s NYT.
Perhaps the left-leaning mainstream media has to much invested in Obama, that they can’t be really objective.
Ok, people. The anti choice movement could not function without companies that make consumer products that fund them.
Dominos Pizza and Curves for Women’s health club give money to the antichoice movement. I suggest people use their buying power and patronize other establishments and not these 2 companies. Then call these 2 companies and tell them why you don’t patronize them, namely that they fund the antichoice movement and that their CEO better get the Stupak amendment stripped from the bill and the Hyde Amendment repealed and the Women’s freedom of Choice act enacted into law or they will continue to do without their business.
Some people say boycotts don’t work. I say they do and boycotts appear the only way to get at the friends of conservative office holders EVERY day instead of wishing and hoping something will happen at election day. Look what happened at election day 2008. We got a congress that still gets ruled by a klanservative coalition although we got a good president. So we have again a whole progressive movement wishing and hoping for the next election a year from now, while people face bankruptcy and repressive klanservatives who threaten a woman’s right to choose abortion.
Wake up people, there appears power in your wallets.
Thank you.
“left-leaning mainstream media.” Are you serious? There is no such thing as a “left-leaning mainstream media” in the US of A. Your meadia, dear friends, is Right, Righter and Rightest. Even the anti-war organs like the Nation are, on most other topics, more Right wing than Leftist. Hence, the ability of that 1% of Americans who control 85% of the wealth of this country to maintain their overseas empire, fight unjust, unnecessary, and unwinnable wars like in Afghanistan and pick your pockets to their hearts content. You folks really do need to wake up. Peace
Hey all.
t4h, are you talking about Krugman? I’ve been through the Times…
On bishops, see Amy Sullivan, whom I link to in the main page post now up, though she by no means gets the whole thing right.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/11/07/anatomy-of-a-health-reform-deal/#ixzz0WKzOoOJe
I know many in the Democratic caucus tend to see their pro-life colleagues as a pesky but ultimately insignificant faction. But this sort of leadership strategy isn’t just inexcusable, it’s malpractice. It appears that Pelosi thought Stupak et al were bluffing and would come around in the end rather than oppose health reform. That assumption also depended on a scenario in which the Catholic bishops may not have supported health reform but also didn’t vigorously oppose it.
It became very clear by late last week that this assumption was a mistake. Instead of staying neutral or remaining quiet about their concerns, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a grassroots campaign to oppose health reform, sending out bulletin inserts and fliers to every diocese in the country and urging priests to speak out from the pulpit last Sunday. In addition, every bishop was urged to contact the congressional members in their diocese and insist that they vote against health reform. And when the Democratic leadership whipped the bill late this week, they found they didn’t have the votes to pass it. Which is how Stupak and representatives from the USCCB ended up in the Speakers’ office last night and emerged with a deal that gives them everything they wanted.