Stupak Amendment a Victory
by
Christopher Dodson
Executive Director, North Dakota Catholic Conference
November 2009
As I
write this month’s column, the U.S. House of
Representatives has just passed major health care reform
legislation, but not before first adding an important
amendment ensuring that no public funds will be used for
abortions. Members of both parties supported the amendment,
but Representative Bart Stupak, a pro-life Catholic
Democrat from Michigan, did most of the work. Rep. Stupak
gathered about 40 like-minded Democrats who threatened to
block the reform bill from coming to a vote unless they got
a chance to vote on his amendment.
The passage of the Stupak Amendment was a huge victory for
the pro-life movement and the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops. According to several news reports, the
USCCB’s unwavering insistence that the Stupak
Amendment receive consideration was key to getting the
last-minute capitulation by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Hard
lobbying by USCCB and the massive outpouring of support for
the Stupak amendment by Catholics across the country made
the difference.
Passage of the Stupak Amendment was only one step toward
genuine health care reform that protects and serves all
human life. More work remains. It’s passage, however,
can provide some lessons for our immediate and long-term
work.
- A
two-party pro-life strategy works. Without the pro-life
Democrats Congress would not have got a chance to vote on
the amendment. Without pro-life Republicans, we would not
have prevailed on the vote.
- Head’s
up to pro-abortion rights Democrats - it’s not your
party. When the Democratic leaders sought to build a
majority party in the last round of elections, they
reached out to pro-life and socially conservative
Democrats. These Democrats had until few decades ago been
a part of the party. Now they are back.
- Some
“liberal” Catholic groups argued that a true
prohibition on abortion funding would never get through
the House and that the bishops should accept the weaker
Capps Amendment for the sake of reform. In the end,
however, the Capps Amendment hindered, rather than helped
the chances for reform.
- Some
“conservative” Catholic groups argued that
the bishops’ effort was futile because the
abortion-rights controlled leadership would never allow a
vote on the Stupak Amendment. These groups argued that
the bishops should do nothing less than oppose health
care reform completely. They also claimed that Rep.
Stupak and the USCCB staff could not be trusted and that
they would eventually cave-in for the sake of reform.
Like their counterparts on the left, they were wrong.
- Phone
calls, emails, and letters do make a difference. So do
parish bulletins.
One other note about the Stupak Amendment needs sharing. Opponents claim that prohibiting federal programs from including abortion would cause North Dakota women to lose the abortion coverage they already have. This cannot be true. For at least thirty years, North Dakota law has prohibited all insurance policies from covering abortion except when the procedure is needed to save the life of the mother. The Stupak Amendment basically reflects the common sense approach embraced by North Dakotans that no one should be forced to pay for another person’s abortion.
