The controversial Stupak amendment is wreaking unexpected havoc on the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

With less than a month before the December 8th primaries, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the unusual (quid pro quo?) step of endorsing one Democratic candidate over three others: longshot Rep. Michael Capuano, who Pelosi called "courageous" for his crucial vote last weekend to support the House health care reform bill. Pelosi observed:

"Any one of us could have found one reason or another not to vote for the bill. But that was not an excuse for preventing this historic moment from taking place...

"He's not ideological; He's operational. He's there to get the job done for the American people."

Per the Suffolk poll taken from Nov 4-8, 2009, the leading Democratic contender remains Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley with a whopping 44% of likely Democratic voters. Six-term Rep. Capuano draws third place in the poll with 16% of likely voters, just behind Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen G. Pagliuca with a 17% estimated share. Support for Coakley has faded slightly, though, from her earlier large lead of close to 50% over other Democratic contenders.

In contrast to Rep. Capuano, A.G. Coakley unequivocally stated that as a U.S. senator, she would not vote for health care reform legislation that contained Stupak amendment-like restrictions on abortion rights. Commented Coakley to Boston radio station WTKK-FM, "To pretend that now the House has passed this bill is real progress - it's at the expense of women's access to reproductive rights."

While all four Democratic candidates in the Bay State profess to be pro-choice, Martha Coakley, who was a diehard Clinton supporter in the 2008 presidential race, WAS the only one who declared intentions to vote against health care reform if the Stupak amendment is not stripped from the legislation.

Was... until Rep. Capuano backtracked, commenting, "If the bill comes back the same way as it left the House, I would vote against it. I am a pro-choice person, and I do believe this is [necessary] to provide health care for everyone."

To which A.G. Coakley dryly replied, "We are heartened to see that Congressman Capuano has reversed his position to follow Martha Coakley's lead, and no longer will vote for health care legislation that further restricts a woman's right to choose."

Intra-party fireworks in Massachusetts are guaranteed in the weeks ahead between now and the December 8th primary. Check back here for the latest on this and all 2010 Senate races.

And mark my words: this is only the first of many 2010 Congressional races to be impacted by the Stupak amendment, which you can read in full here: Full Text of Stupak Amendment to Prohibit Government-Funded Abortions

Essential Reading

• Profile of Martha Coakley, Senate Candidate from MA
• 2010 U.S. Senate Races - Who's Winning, Who's Not
• Pro-Choice Advocates Are Wrong to Block House Health Care Bill

(Photo taken in 2005 of Congressman Capuano with Army soldiers and Marines stationed at Camp Al Asad, located in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Photo Courtesy of the Office of Congressman Capuano.)

Despite the self-absorbed overreaction by some pro-choice Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was absolutely correct to allow the Stupak-Pitts pro-life amendment to be introduced for a full House vote.

The hard fact is that without the Stupak amendment, the House health care reform bill would have gone down to defeat last weekend.

Without the Stupak amendment, presumably most of the 64 Democrats (representing 25% of all House Democrats) who supported the measure would not have been able, out of principled conscience, to support the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962.

And health care reform, which Democrats have fervently urged for more than 70 years, would have been dead under the Obama administration and possibly for many decades to come.

This is an inevitable consequence of the "big tent" philosophy that allowed Democrats to take back the White House and control both houses of Congress in the 2008 elections.

Briefly, the Stupak amendment mandates:

"No funds authorized or appropriated by the Act... may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion...

"Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting any nonfederal entity... from purchasing separate or supplemental coverage for abortions for which funding is prohibited under this section... "

(For more, see Full Text of Stupak Amendment to Prohibit Government-Funded Abortions.)

Certainly the intentionally clever wording of the Stupak amendment would make it considerably more difficult for uninsured women who purchase the public plan option or receive low-income subsidies for their coverage to make the unnecessarily difficult arrangements to pay for abortion services.

Given that abortion is a legal right extended in 1973 to all Americans under the Roe v. Wade decision, it's wrong for Congress to attempt to block American women, including lower income women, from exercising their legal rights.

But there's plenty else wrong with the imperfect House health care reform bill. And the Stupak amendment is hardly the most undemocratic or unfair element of this legislation.

Read more...

The 39 Democrats who voted against passage of the House health care reform bill will be as indelibly remembered politically as the 29 Senate Democrats who foolishly voted in 2002 to support the Iraq War.

Both were were political choices, not choices made in the best interest of the American people. And both votes were about viewpoints foundational to the Democratic party, and to the essence of being a Democrat.

(See the list of 39 DINOs at Who Voted NO on the House Health Care Bill?)

Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination because she fatefully cast her 2002 vote to support George Bush's and Dick Cheney's oil-based attack and occupation of Iraq. John Kerry had no credibility on the Iraq War during the 2004 presidential race since he also voted YES on the Iraq War.

Yet, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was among the 23 senators who wisely voted NO on the Iraq War, prophetically called it "the best vote I have cast in the United States Senate since I was elected in 1962."

Likewise, the 39 House Democrats who voted NO on the sole issue that has united all Democratic presidents for more than 75 years, health care reform, will be remembered for their lack of good judgment, and especially for their lack of compassion and support for everyday Americans.

I've carefully reviewed and researched the 39 Democratic naysayers, and found two common attributes: the group is almost entirely white and male:

Read more...

After reviewing details of the revised House health care reform bill, I agree with Dr. Howard Dean's sentiment that "The House bill is actually very good."

(See Key Provisions of the House Health Care Bill for a one-page summary of the House health care reform bill.)

Commented Dean, former Democratic party chair and a longtime physician, last week on MSNBC:

"The fact is, this is real reform. That's all I really care about, is real reform. ... It's not the kind of reform that I would have loved, but this is pretty good stuff, and it really is going to make a difference."

AARP, representing senior citizens, and the AMA, representing physicians, both endorse the House's revised, post-negotiations "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," H.R.3200.

And the Congressional Budget Office states that the revised House bill would "slightly reduce federal budget deficits." President Obama hailed the House bill as " 'a historic step forward' and said it met two important criteria: 'It is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term,'" per the New York Times.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer have wisely committed to a quick vote over this weekend, before the week-long Congressional break for Veterans Day. President Obama plans a rare trip to Capitol Hill tomorrow, to push moderate, pro-business Blue Dog Democrats to vote for the bill.

Democrats need at least 218 House votes to pass legislation. After the November 3, 2009 elections in which Democrats won two seats, the House currently counts 258 Democrats and 177 Republicans. No Republicans are expected to vote for health care reform under the Obama administration.

Get informed at my one-page Key Provisions of the House Health Care Bill. Then email or call your Congressman or Congresswoman TODAY to tell them to vote for "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," H.R.3200.