On July 21, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi pushing for a “common ground” solution to disagreements about abortion coverage in the health care bill. Ryan, who describes himself as pro-life and wrote that the bill should prohibit federal funding of abortion, believes that the Capps amendment passed by the Energy and Commerce committee last Thursday is precisely the kind of measure he wanted. In a phone interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Friday, Ryan said the Capps amendment makes it “very clear that no public money can be used to provide and pay for an abortion.”

But pro-life leaders and members of Congress say that Ryan’s statement is misleading: They point out that the Capps amendment, in fact, allows the “public option” and federally-subsidized private plans to cover elective abortions. Taxpayer funds will pay for insurance policies that might make abortions cost $50 out-of-pocket instead of $500. But Ryan says “there will be a firewall between the public money and the private money,” and–on paper, at least–private funds will be used to pay abortion clinics. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) believes the Capps amendment is a “phony compromise,” according to his spokesman. “It’s one of the most deceptive amendments I have ever seen,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) told me during a phone interview. “The bottom line is that money is fungible, and the plan itself will be subsidizing abortion-on-demand, with taxpayer funding commingled, and the numbers of abortions will go up significantly.”