Bart Stupak: 'There's No Such Thing' As A Compromise Yet On Abortion Provisions Of Health Bill

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a leading orchestrator of the Democratic anti-abortion opposition to the current health care reform package, hasn't heard any good reason to change his vote, he said at a town hall meeting on Tuesday, according to the Weekly Standard.

"Everyone's going around saying there's a compromise--there's no such thing," Stupak said. Though the Michigan representative did admit meeting with both House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) this week to talk about potential fixes to the bill, such discussions have not yet produced results.

"I'm more optimistic than I was a week ago," Stupak said about reaching an acceptable compromise on abortion wording in the bill. Any such a compromise must fix the wording before the bill goes up for a vote, Stupak continued.

"If they say 'we'll give you a letter saying we'll take care of this later,' that's not acceptable because later never comes," Stupak said.

According to Stupak, his group of pro-life Democrats opposing the current bill remains intact and strong. "My numbers remain firm at 12. These are 12 who voted for it [in November] who will not vote for it unless we resolve this issue."

Comments

[montn2]

01:06 PM on 03/11/2010

Bart Stupak is Roman Catholic. I am a Christian but NOT Roman Catholic and am fed up with various religions shoving their beliefs down my throat. As an American I have a right to my religion but do not have a right to force my beliefs on others. That is what the Taliban and other radical religions around the world do to their subjects. Enough!

[babyboomerorig]

11:24 AM on 03/11/2010

You're right, Stupak....there's no compromise on abortion.

It's law.

The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding.

Get a life and leave ours alone.

[G52]

09:03 AM on 03/11/2010

Stupak now has real, family issues! expect to hear more in the next couple days! To me this is beginning to sound like he has totally different issues if not an agenda!

[babyboomerorig]

11:25 AM on 03/11/2010

Awwww, come on......fill us in....we won't tell.

It'll be between friends, ya' know?

[dmsdzinr]

07:49 AM on 03/11/2010

YO Barty Boy, ever heard of the Separation of Church & State? YOU don't get to inject YOUR religious beliefs into legislation in an attempt to FORCE YOUR religious beliefs on ALL of America!!!

[simplify]

07:27 AM on 03/11/2010

Stupak's 15minutes is over. His support is now down to 4 other house congressmen.
Rachel Maddow explains.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/35807173#35807173

[dmsdzinr]

07:26 AM on 03/11/2010

WELL The STUPID STUPAK 4 has been EXPOSED! NOT the 12 he claimed and the Caveats he wants CANNOT be written into the bill. Seems Mr. Stupak is becoming a NON ISSUE!

[ProIrishDem]

06:27 AM on 03/11/2010

IF YOU ARE AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM
(WITH A PUBLIC OPTION OPEN TO ALL THAT HAS BEEN SCORED BY THE CBO TO SAVE MONEY) YOU ARE :

- in desperate need of a heart transplant
- born without a conscience
- have a poster of R.ush L.imbaugh on your wall
- have a poster of C.arl R.ove on your ceiling (above your bed)
- have that 24.99 S.arah P. alarm clock that you wake up each morning to ''YOU BETCHA''
- looking around your PTA meetings and seeing only white people
-oblivious to the hurt and suffering around you
-DO NOT see d.e.a.d people
-living in a comfy cushy little world that is behind closed gates
-rarely getting off your a.zz from watching clusterfaux all day other than to go to the fridge to get more chilled chardonnay
-only look for the letter R in any voting booth any where for any person (qualified of not)
-are convinced that your lot in life is everybody elses' fault ..especially democrats
-are a man that wants to control a woman's body and HER right to chose

-just not giving a D:A.M: for anybody but yourself

HOW is THAT American ? or even Human ?

Reconcilliation is coming for a public option and the decimation of the republican party for a generation in November.

Regards,
An Irish Friend .

[liberal]

01:03 PM on 03/11/2010

Great analogy.

[ProIrishDem]

01:36 PM on 03/11/2010

thx friend :)

[seal62]

01:06 PM on 03/11/2010

I read a few of your posts and ive come to conclude.I could share a couple pints with you..well about 8 for himself.

[ProIrishDem]

01:35 PM on 03/11/2010

lol thx

[P A Durand]

02:37 AM on 03/11/2010

Suppose someone stands on the beach and pours a glass of water into the ocean (pay in). They then fill the glass up again (pay out). The net change in the ocean is zero.

Stupak's "fungibility" theory is like saying that you don't want the water in your glass now... you want the water that was in your glass before, as if we could go gather up all of the individual water molecules that were in your glass.

Maybe people could pay both their income tax and their premiums by mailing in actual cash, and we could track the serial numbers of individual bills to make sure no one's tax dollars went towards abortion. Sound like a good idea, Bart?

[Madbunny]

01:26 AM on 03/11/2010

Ok Stupak, you win. Pre-emptively.

There is *already* no funding for abortion in the bill. Go home and cheer that you said the moon had to be round and got what you wanted. Now, shut up and quit grandstanding.

Or, perhaps you don't understand the basic concept of separation of church and state?

Here, I'll illustrate it.

. . . . . .... | . . . . .
. . . . . .....| . . . . .
. . . . . .....| . . . . .
Church | State
...............|

Religion on one side. The government on the other.

[rosiebond007]

12:51 AM on 03/11/2010

Well Stupak since you are not there yet - there is no time like the present to sit down and read laws already implemented for your dearest wishes.

WAKE UP AND GET ON WITH YOUR WORK.

WE WANT HEALTHCARE REFORM - I THINK YOU ARE EITHER EXTREMELY SELFISH OR JUST UNABLE TO DO THE RESEARCH REQUIRED HERE.

OR ..... PERHAPS YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE A SPLASH IN THE MEDIA ....

[LittleMittens]

12:46 AM on 03/11/2010

Why is stupid against women's rights?

[Weehawk]

09:42 PM on 03/12/2010

Probably got turned down for lots of dates in High School.....

[AnotherAngle]

09:56 PM on 03/10/2010

Americans have forgotten what it means for a man to have character and dignity. Hold your ground Mr. Stupak, you have a much higher authority to answer to and your reward will be great.

You are defending the weakest of humanity when you refuse to allow these innocent children to be brutally jerked into death from their mother's wombs. In our society, we are more concerned that even the most heinous of criminals are put to death in a painless and dignified manner. We give no thought to the pain that has become the judgment of a child who's only crime was to begin growing.

In the long and short of it, you have decided what's more important. What a rare and gratifying stance you have taken. Believe me when I tell you there are millions of us standing beside you.

[asiclilpup]

10:25 PM on 03/10/2010

A man has no character or dignity when he sticks his meddling nose into a womans rightful choice--no matter what her reason is.

[AnotherAngle]

10:41 PM on 03/10/2010

If another man is paying for it, they have EVERY right to stick their nose into it.

You want it to be private. Pay for your own abortions.

[David Rozgonyi]

06:33 AM on 03/11/2010

Well aren't you just so fanned!

[Tommygun264]

02:52 AM on 03/11/2010

Stupak isn't standing on principle, he's letting real people die while he pretends to fight for theoretical lives. People - real people who have been born, not potential people - are dying because they don't have health care insurance or don't have adequate coverage and are too far gone to hang on long enough to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. Real people - people who have survived birth, people with husbands, wives, parents, children - they're dying today because they don't have health care and Bart Stupak is making sure those people keep suffering and dying by the tens of thousands because his ego and political standing is more important to him than their lives. If Bart Stupak really wanted to save lives, he would stop holding out for his idea of perfection and pass this imperfect legislation. Then once 30 MILLION uninsured Americans have health care coverage, he can work to amend the law. We need to stop whining because we aren't getting everything we want all at once, pass the Bill and then work to improve it. People are dying.

[wdw505]

03:26 AM on 03/11/2010

no the bill needs to start with what we can all agree on.......small thing by small thing........not pass a 2000 plus page crap bill and hope it is made correct later

[idisVA]

09:31 PM on 03/10/2010

Rachel has just determined that your 15 minutes are up, Bart. BTW, the IRS would like to ask you a few questions about who was subsidizing your rent for the 7 years you lived at the C Street Hohouse.

[RedXIV]

09:30 PM on 03/10/2010

Why compromise with Stupak at all? Just pass the damn thing without him. Just because he claims he has 12 firm votes against the bill doesn't make it true.

[Libby123]

12:29 AM on 03/11/2010

An informal whip count has his cabal of malcontents at 4 or 5, according to Rachel Maddow earlier this evening. And if Rachel says it, I believe it.

[Schmaltzy the Golem]

09:24 PM on 03/10/2010

He's just using this as a free campaign ad,since it's a totally empty and pointless "stand". But it seems that all he's done is inspire some competition in the primary..so I'm all for his bluster.

[One more Thing]

09:42 PM on 03/10/2010

His activities in Congress during the last 17 years will finally get the scrutiny they have always needed. Truth will finally prevail.