In a news conference following the House health care vote,
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked to react to the passage of the
Stupak pro-life amendment and the harsh criticism coming from
pro-choice groups.
“We have sought over the course of the development of this bill
common ground in many areas, this being one of those,"
Pelosi said. "We did not reach the common ground yet that we
hoped to achieve, therefore we had an amendment on the floor. We
will continue to seek common ground.”
Translation: don't worry liberals, it's unlikely that the Stupak
language will make it into the final bill.
Meanwhile, in a separate news conference, Democratic Rep. Marcy
Kaptur, one of the co-sponsors of the Stupak amendment, said:
“This bill would not have moved forward in the House without the
votes of the members who supported our amendment. And indeed I
think two-thirds of those on our side who voted for this
ultimately voted for passage.”
UPDATE: Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth said: “I’m very proud to
be able to vote for the bill, but couldn’t have had this
legislation not been part of it.”
