Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. said he and a group of up to 10 pro-life Democrats are ready to vote for the Democratic heath care reform bill now that President Obama has agreed to sign an executive order banning federal funding of abortion under the proposal.
“Make no doubt about it, there will be no public funds for abortion,” Stupak said.
Stupak appeared at a press conference with a group of pro-life Democrats to make the announcement, which came as the White House released a statement confirming the executive order.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, denounced the deal, saying an executive order “can be reversed or altered at the stroke of a pen by this or any subsequent president without any congressional approval or notice.”
Stupak said he wanted the language encoded into law, but couldn’t get it because it would require a new bill to pass with 60 votes in the Senate.
“We would all love to have a statute that would be stronger,” Stupak said. “We can’t get the 60 votes in the Senate. The reality is we can’t do it.”
Stupak said he believed the leadership was already at or near the 216 votes they needed without pro-life Democratic support, but the deal announced today practically ensures an easy victory for Democrats.
Democrats who joined Stupak at the podium included Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Steve Driehaus of Ohio and Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall, both of West Virginia.
According to White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer, the executive order, “provides additional safeguards to ensure that the status quo is upheld and enforced, and that the health care legislation’s restrictions against the public funding of abortions cannot be circumvented.”
