Tony Perkins Washington Update
Standing up for whats right sometimes means standing alone. And no one knows that better than Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). Despite angry calls to his office and outrage from the leadership of his own party the Michigan Democrat refuses to give up on his language to ban taxpayer-funded abortion in the final health care bill.
You fight for a principle youve believed in your whole life Rep. Stupak says. You dont fold up the tent. He knows his values are unpopular with the Democratic leadership but hes used to it. When he ran for Congress in 1992 his partys political consultants refused to work with him because they didnt believe a Democrat could win on a pro-life platform. On ABCs Good Morning America earlier today the man standing between the unborn and a powerful abortion lobby showed that hes ready to prove his critics wrong--again.
Rep. Stupak: The bill that they are using as a vehicle is the Senate bill. If you go to page 2069 through page 2078 you would find in there the federal government would directly subsidize abortions ... Were not going to vote for this bill with that kind of language in there. The president says no federal funding for abortion. I have eight pieces of legislation we currently have in federal law that say no public funding for abortion. He can take any one of these eight insert the language and well be happy... If theres a will theres a way. Saying you cant do it under reconciliation rules is just an excuse theyre giving. Look give us our language. Lets keep current law: no public funding for abortion...
Stephanopoulos: Let me be clear here. If the president doesnt change the language if your language is not accepted you and your 11 colleagues who voted yes the last time will vote no this time. Does that mean youre prepared to take responsibility for bringing down this whole bill?
Rep. Stupak: Yes were prepared to take responsibility... I want to see health care. But were not going to bypass some principles and beliefs that we feel strongly about.
Before when we talked about pro-life Democrats Rep. Stupak told the New York Times youd get a snicker and a laugh. We were just always overlooked. Were not overlooked anymore. Nor should they be. This is a powerful coalition led by a principled leader worthy of Americas respect.
