Following Saturday night's vote, I posted
a list of the 42 members of the House who voted for the Stupak
amendment to bar taxpayer funding for abortions and then in favor
of the main bill. In the list below, I've narrowed it down to 16
members who specifically cited the anti-abortion language in
their subsequent press statements explaining their final votes.
Keep in mind that the final vote was 220 to 215, and if Nancy
Pelosi would have lost any three of these members without picking
up support elsewhere, she would not have been able to pass the
bill. And while it's true, as some have argued, that Pelosi may
have released some vulnerable Democrats to vote against the bill
once she secured enough votes, it's unlikely that if she had
sufficient support to pass the bill without the anti-abortion
language, that she would have risked the fierce backlash among
pro-choicers. Today, 41 Democrats
vowed to vote against the final bill if the Stupak language
isn't stripped.
While we can't know for sure how many of the 16 members listed
below would have voted for the bill anyway, it at least gives us
some idea of how many members are at least sensitive enough about
the abortion issue to tout the adoption of pro-life language. All
of the members listed below are Democrats, with the exception of
Joseph Cao, the lone Republican who voted for the bill but has
emphatically stated that he could not have done so without the
Stupak amendment. I linked to their press release in each case,
and put an asterik next to the names of those who co-sponsored
the Stupak provision.
Marion
Berry (AR-1)
Sanford
Bishop (GA-2)
Chris Carney (PA-101)
Joseph Cao (LA-2)
Jerry
Costello (IL-12)
Kathy Dahlkemper* (PA-3)
Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
Steve Driehaus (OH-1)
Brad Ellsworth* (IN-8)
Baron
Hill (IN-9)
Paul Kanjorski (PA-11)
Marcy Kaptur* (OH-9)
Daniel Lipinski* (IL-3)
Alan Mollohan (WV-1)
James Oberstar (MN-8)
Bart Stupak* (MI-1)
