Able To Hold True

Representative Bart Stupak writes:

When I saw that Kathleen Parker's March 24 op-ed, "Stupak's original sin," defined me as a "backstabber," it reminded me of a Bible verse. Matthew 7:3 asks, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" The true motives of many blogs and organizations claiming to be pro-life have become clear in recent days: to politicize life issues as a means to defeat health care reform. One group even sent an e-mail to supporters saying they are "working feverishly to stop this legislation from going forward."

The pro-life groups rallied behind me -- many without my knowledge or consent -- not necessarily because they shared my goals of ensuring protections for life and passing health-care reform but because they viewed me as their best chance to kill health-care legislation. Last November, an amendment I introduced succeeded in making sure the House health-care-reform bill contained the current law prohibiting public funding for abortions. I was disappointed that the Senate could not pass my language and only mustered 45 pro-life votes, far short of the 60 votes needed to keep the amendment intact.

Many of my Democratic pro-life colleagues and I worked tirelessly in the days leading up to the final House vote on health-care reform to strengthen the legislation's restrictions on abortion funding. We proposed numerous procedural and legislative options, but ultimately all of our efforts required the 60 votes we could not obtain in the Senate. Once it was clear that the House leadership would eventually obtain the 216 votes necessary to pass health-care reform, I was left with a choice: Vote against the bill and watch it become law with no further protections for life or reach an agreement that prevents federal funding for abortions.

Therefore, I and other pro-life Democrats struck an agreement with President Obama to issue an executive order that would ensure all Hyde Amendment protections would apply to the health-care reform bill. No, an executive order is not as strong as the statutory language we fought for at the start. We received, however, an "ironclad" commitment from the president that no taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for abortions.

Throughout history, executive orders have carried the full force and effect of law and have served as an important means of implementing public policy. Perhaps the most famous executive order was the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. More recently, in 2007, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13435, restricting embryonic stem-cell research. This executive order protected the sanctity of life and was "applauded" and "welcomed" by pro-life advocates. That these same people would now claim that President Obama's executive order maintaining the sanctity of life is not worth the paper it is written on is disingenuous at best.

Some, including Parker, have criticized Obama's executive order as unenforceable in the courts and therefore just a "fig leaf." Yet the language that critics point to is standard language with any executive order, including Bush's ban on embryonic stem-cell research. Again, many of these pro-life groups did not express concern over the Bush language but claim it is unacceptable under Obama. To further protect against federal funding for abortion, during floor debate on the health-care reform bill I engaged in a colloquy with Rep. Henry Waxman to make clear congressional intent that the provisions in the bill, combined with the executive order, will ensure that outcome. Such colloquies are often referred to in court cases when an attempt is being made to determine Congress's intent. This, too, was no minor concession by those opposed to our efforts, and it is a tremendous victory for those protecting the sanctity of life.

I have said from the start that my goal was to see health-care reform pass while maintaining the long-standing principle of the sanctity of life. The president's executive order upholds this principle and current law that no federal funds be used for abortion. I and other pro-life Democrats are pleased that we were able to hold true to our principles and vote for a bill that is pro-life at every stage of life and that provides 32 million Americans with access to high-quality, affordable health care.

To which Right Democrat, who thankfully seems once again to be blogging rather than only tweeting as the midterms draw nigh, adds:

Bart Stupak's support for health care reform is pro-life. Thousands of people die every year because of lack of health care coverage. Countries with national health care programs have greater longevity and lower abortion rates than the United States. So-called pro-life politicians such as former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida slashed funding for prenatal care while in office proving that these compassionate folks care only about the unborn with health insurance benefits.

Michigan Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak has gotten considerable flak from both the pro-life establishment (controlled by the Republican Party) and hard-line pro-choice types. Stupak isn't one of those pro-lifers who care only about the unborn with insurance. While Stupak has firm convictions on the matter of abortion, he is not a small-minded single issue type but rather cares deeply about social and economic justice for all people.

Bart Stupak makes a convincing argument that an executive order on stem cell research signed by George Bush was just fine for the pro-life leadership but it isn't okay with Obama issuing a E.O. on federal funding for abortion. Of course, it is hardly a surprise that the pro-life establishment fails to give a Democrat credit when it is due. Jimmy Carter never gets any recognition from the pro-life movement for signing the Hyde Amendment into law.

The following is a press release from Representative Stupak's office which gives additional background on the executive order signed by President Obama and refutes pro-life objections to it.

U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) attended the executive order signing at the White House Wednesday afternoon as a guest of President Obama.

The president’s executive order maintains the Hyde language that states that no taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for abortion under the new health care reform legislation.

“President Obama made a commitment in September that the health care reform legislation would maintain current law of no public funding of abortion,” Stupak said. “Today the president signed an executive order and gave his ironclad commitment that Hyde language will be enforced in the health care reform bill. I was honored to attend today’s executive order signing, and am proud to have voted in favor of health care legislation that will provide 32 million uninsured Americans with access to affordable health care.”

The President’s executive order has full force of law and makes clear that current law of no public funding for abortion applies to H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The executive order states: “The act [the new health care reform legislation] maintains current Hyde amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges.” Without this executive order, a loophole in H.R. 3590 would have left the door open to federally funded abortion services in community health clinics.

Throughout history, executive orders have been an important means of implementing public policy. In 2007, George W. Bush signed executive order 13435 restricting embryonic stem cell research – a pro-life policy that was applauded and welcomed by the pro-life community. These same groups have been opposed to President Obama’s pro-life executive order. Some have also criticized the general provisions section of the executive order saying the language would prevent the executive order from having force of law in the courts. Yet the language critics point to is standard language with any executive order, including President Bush’s ban on embryonic stem cell research. Again, these same pro-life groups did not express concern over the language under President Bush, yet claim it is unacceptable under President Obama.

“This executive order protects the sanctity of life,” Stupak said. “It is disingenuous for pro-life groups who cheered President Bush’s embryonic stem cell Executive Order to now claim President Obama’s executive order maintaining the Hyde language in the health care reform bill is not worth the paper it is printed on.” In addition to the executive order, Stupak engaged in a colloquy on the House floor with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman to further enter into the record Congress’ intent that the Hyde provisions of no public funding for abortion will apply to the health care reform legislation.

“Together, the executive order and the colloquy, provide strong assurances that there will be no taxpayer dollars going toward abortion in the health care reform legislation,” Stupak said. “Today’s signing was the culmination of many months of hard work to pass legislation that provided our nation with much-needed health care reform while protecting the sanctity of life. I was proud to stand up for this principle today with my Democratic pro-life colleagues and President Obama as he signed this executive order.”

Wake up, followers of the National Right to Life Committee and other Republican front groups professing to represent pro-life concerns. You are being manipulated by the Republican Party and powerful corporate interests under the guise of protecting life. Your masters are the same people undermining family life in America by destroying our standard of living and shipping U.S. jobs overseas. The best way to combat abortion is to support a stronger safety net that will provide incentives for a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy to choose life.

I applaud Bart Stupak for having the courage of his convictions to stand up to extremists on both sides of the ideological spectrum.