McJoan at DKos: How Bad Is the Stupak Amendment?...really bad.

madfloridian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sat Nov-07-09 04:50 PM
Original message

McJoan at DKos: How Bad Is the Stupak Amendment?...really bad.

Edited on Sat Nov-07-09 04:55 PM by madfloridian

Because of the limits placed on the exchanges, most of the participants will have some form of premium credit or affordable subsidy. That means most will be ineligible for abortion coverage. The idea that people are going to go out and purchase separate "abortion plans" is both cruel and laughable. If this amendment passes, it will mean that virtually all women with insurance through the exchange who find themselves in the unwanted and unexpected position of needing to terminate a pregnancy will not have coverage for the procedure. Abortion coverage will not be outlawed in this country. It will simply be tiered, reserved for those rich enough to afford insurance themselves or lucky enough to receive from their employers.

The amendment is expected to pass with relative ease. Republicans will join with anti-choice Democrats to push it over the finish line. Once the amendment passes, the bill is cleared for a vote, and all parties expect that vote to succeed. Today looks likely to end with a historic, and important, vote. A vote that is a first step towards helping more than 30 million people secure health-care coverage, and making sure hundreds of millions are better protected from the vagaries of the insurance industry. But Stupak's amendment is a bitter start. It is, however, not the end. Even if it muscles into the House bill, it will also have to pass in the Senate, and then survive conference, before it becomes law.

If you have any doubt that the anti-abortion bill will remain alive and well to the end...then I have Florida swampland to sell you.

Chris Bowers at Open Left asks if the leadership got played.

Open Left covers the Stupak Anti-choice amendment

# No Progressive Block, apparently due to Obama reassurance. To my knowledge, no pro-choice Democrats have threatened to vote against the bill as a result of this. Apparently, this is because of a rumor going around Congress that President Obama promised Henry Waxman that he will "personally" work to remove the language in conference. I feel so reassured.

# No other amendments. No other amendments (Medicare +5% public option, single-payer) will be voted on. Just the Stupak amendment. Apparently, the leadership felt it needed to placate Stupak, but not single-payer or robust public option supporters. Once again, the Regressives play hardball better than the Progressives.

# Did the leadership get played?: Stupak claims that the bill will pass no matter what happens to his amendment. If that is true, then he really played the leadership on this, since they appear to have only allowed his amendment in order to get the votes for passage of the overall bill.

# Timeline: The Stupak amendment will be voted on after the debate is over. This means around 7:15 p.m. eastern. A final vote on the overall bill will take place at around 9 p.m.

# Chance of passage: Stupak is claiming that he has "about 220 votes" for his amendment. Update: Now Stupak claims he was 225 votes.

Based on various reports and whip counts I have seen publicly and privately, I can count 46 Democrats who might vote for the amendment. In order for it to pass, Stupak needs 41, plus all Republicans.

This amendment by Stupak, a Democrat supposedly, is anti-choice. It is about controlling the rights of women.

Our party just keeps on letting women be expendable.

And we have let them do it.