Planned Parenthood To Fight Stupak-Pitts Provision

Planned Parenthood and its pro-choice allies are launching a grassroots lobbying front against the Stupak amendment -- the provision in the House's recently passed health care bill that would restrict private insurers from covering abortions, reports Newsweek

On Tuesday, Planned Parented hosted a meeting "dozens" of progressive groups at its Washington office. MoveOn.org, the American Civil Liberties Union and Services Employees International Union were in attendance, according to Politico. Last night Planned Parenthood launched an online petition for lawmakers and the group will host a meeting with leaders from reproductive rights, labor and progressive groups next week. The group has logged thousands of calls to lawmakers urging for the amendment to be stripped from the legislation.

But as their grassroots campaign mounts, Newsweek reports, the group may face an uphill battle in direct lobbying of lawmakers.

So lobbying the Senate will be difficult, but also absolutely necessary. Why? The Senate does not have a pro-abortion rights majority. According to NARAL's breakdown, there are 40 solid supporters of abortion rights, 41 in clear opposition, and 19 somewhere in the middle. That is actually pretty similar, percentage-wise, to the abortion-rights landscape of the House that approved the Stupak amendment.

The group is also relying on House progressives to vote against a bill containing the anti-abortion language -- 41 Democrats threatened to do just that in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to Politico.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who has a mixed record on abortion, has not yet indicated if he will include the Stupak-Pitts provision in the Senate's health care legislation.

Planned Parenthood voiced its opposition to the amendment in a statement released earlier this week:

"The fact is, the majority of private health insurance plans currently offer abortion coverage and the Stupak/Pitts amendment would result in the elimination of abortion coverage in the new insurance market created under health care reform. The Stupak/Pitts Amendment upends the carefully crafted compromise in the House bill and unambiguously restricts women's access to care."

Planned Parenthood reported spending $161,884.53 on lobbying expenditures in the third quarter, according to lobbying disclosure reports.

Comments

[LolGail]

Planned Parenthood's sudden push against the Stupak amendment is too little, too late. Where were all their good intentions when the amendment was in the House? They have become a totally meaningless organization and will never again receive any support from me. By their inaction earlier, when it might have done some good, they have effectively assisted in the destruction of Roe v. Wade and all that constitutional amendment stands for.

[Artemis34]

"The Republican National Committee's health insurance plan covers elective abortions for its employees, an option Republicans strongly oppose in health overhaul legislation that Democrats are trying to push through Congress."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1939286,00.html?xid=rss-politics-huffpo#ixzz0WtnSFMXd

[NikkiT]

i have signed the petitions, i have written the letters and i have donated money to planned parent hood. if this amendment passes and obama signs it. i will leave the democratic party and fight against obama's reelection. the core principals and values of the democratic party are to support a woman's right to choose. this amendment sets women back to the dark ages and takes their legal rights away. Nearly 60% of the democratic party are women and of that nearly 90% are pro-choice. The democrats will fail and will only have themselves to blame for caving to right-wing C-Street Family nut-jobs.

[MOCONSERVATIVE]

what a shocker - the largest benefactor of the abortion industry does not like this restriction?

[Frustrated in PA]

We spend less on lobbying than the health insurance companies, big pharma, oil lobbyists, defense contractors shall I go on?

I already wrote my Senators, although useless, I did my part. As a proud member of Planned Parenthood, I gave my donation and will be attending a meeting next week to discuss local strategy. At least when we want change, we get off our asses and try to do something. What do you do besides sitting at a computer and bitching about everything else?.