
The anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List group announced tonight they will strip Rep. Bart Stupak of the "Defender of Life" award that he's received several times. The group blasted Stupak's role in forging a compromise with the White House on abortion language in an executive order and said he is no longer truly "pro-life."
The group says President Obama's executive order was "unacceptable" and they are redoubling efforts to elect "true" pro-life candidates.
SBA List Candidate Fund President Marjorie Dannenfelser issued a statement saying the group had been planning to honor Stupak (D-MI) for his efforts at their Campaign for Life Gala scheduled for Wednesday. "We will no longer be doing so. By accepting this deal from the most pro-abortion President in American history, Stupak has not only failed to stand strong for unborn children, but also for his constituents and pro-life voters across the country," Dannenfelser said in the statement.
Women's groups criticized Obama for the order as well.
The SBA List statement said lawmakers who vote for the health care bill "can no longer call themselves 'pro-life.'"
More from the statement:
The Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund will not endorse, or support in any capacity, any Member of Congress who votes for this bill in any future election. Now through Election Day 2010, these representatives will learn that votes have consequences. The SBA List Candidate Fund will work tirelessly to help defeat Members who support this legislation and make sure their constituents know exactly how they voted. We will actively seek out true pro-life candidates to oppose Members who vote 'yes' on this bill, whether it be in general or primary elections. For these Members, it will be a quick downhill slide to defeat in November.The executive order on abortion funding does absolutely nothing to fix the problems presented by the health care reform bill that the House will vote on this evening. The very idea should offend all pro-life Members of Congress. An executive order can be rescinded at any time at the President's whim, and the courts could and have a history of trumping executive orders. Most importantly, pro-abortion Representatives have admitted the executive order is meaningless.
The group detailed their efforts in the health care fight as, "nearly $2 million on a grassroots campaign of targeted television and radio ads, 1.3 million automated calls, 70,000 patch-through constituent calls, 1.2 million letters and petitions to Congress, two media and grassroots tours in pro-life Democratic districts, television ads in six districts and comprehensive polling in 20 pro-life Democratic districts."

Barack ObamaJob Approval |
45.2%Approve | 49.7%Disapprove | -4.5Spread |
CongressionalGeneric Ballot |
41.7%DEM | 47.4%GOP | +5.7SpreadR |
TPM Stories Now Surging on Digg.com

Viva!America!
March 21, 2010 8:46 PM
Silly women, Stupak doesn't care about your approval. Go ask the nuns.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Viva!America!
March 21, 2010 8:48 PM
Speaking of abortions, it's not going to come up during immigration or finance reform is it? It sounds like a silly question, but we have a silly congress.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Orlando
March 21, 2010 8:48 PM
Wow. Those sour grapes make great whine.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
lester
March 21, 2010 8:51 PM
Hahaha!!! So, the word "life" only applies to fetuses and not the living? C'm'on. These people are full of $h#t.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Rich in NJ
March 21, 2010 8:53 PM
That action, in and of itself, is a greater award.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ottis
March 21, 2010 8:55 PM
Stupak you should be more careful about the company you associate with. You should know that you can't satisfy some people all the time. They will be returning for more favors.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
atomic_violin
March 21, 2010 9:24 PM
...Proving yet again that it's not really about abortion.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
bushwhacked
March 21, 2010 9:38 PM
I fail to see how a group can be pro life while thousands and thousands of Americans die each and every year simply because they have no access to health care.
Seriously, what is wrong with you people? I thought every life has a soul and every life is precious. Doesn't it make more sense to allow that we should protect all life, not only a subset?
Now go back to you TV and finish watching Glenn Beck.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
laird
March 21, 2010 9:45 PM
Political terminology is odd. They are "pro-life" so they are opposed to a bill that provide health care to tens of millions of americans, and doesn't fund abortion?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jdb316
March 21, 2010 9:56 PM
Other than Stupak, how many Democrats does this group really endorse?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
AJM
March 21, 2010 9:56 PM
I'm very curious about the number of late night calls Supak gets over the next several weeks.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Steve LaBonne
March 21, 2010 10:17 PM
So the people on Stupak's side of things have no trouble seeing that he was totally rolled and got nothing but a meaningless gesture out of his holdout. So how come NOW isn't that smart?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Decatur Dem
March 21, 2010 10:38 PM
Can we please stop referring to these zealots as "pro-life"? I'm not "anti-life," fer gawd's sake, I'm "pro-choice." People who want politicians to make choices governing women's bodies are "anti-choice."
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
toxophilite
March 21, 2010 10:43 PM in reply to Decatur Dem
"Pro-privacy" is better. Even the possibility that someone is making a choice is none of these nosy parkers' business. Their intrusion makes them "anti-privacy."
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Frankish
March 22, 2010 12:07 AM in reply to Decatur Dem
I agree absolutely - anti-choice, not pro-life. We need to adopt more aggressive verbiage if we are to succeed. It's time to take a page out of their playbook.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
GayIthacan
March 21, 2010 11:43 PM
Hey ladies.
Suck it! :D :D
But then, you're probably opposed to that as well.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
melior
March 22, 2010 12:08 AM
Even the group's name is a lie.
"There's absolutely nothing in anything that [Susan B. Anthony] ever said or did that would indicate she was anti-abortion," said Gloria Feldt, an activist and author who formerly served as head of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
http://www.womensenews.org/story/abortion/061006/susan-b-anthonys-abortion-position-spurs-scuffle
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jsdc007
March 22, 2010 12:23 AM
Let's look at the math here.
Catholic nuns, Catholic hospitals, Catholic hospitals, and now even Catholic bishops in favor of the bill.
These pathetic, Republican, flat-earth hags who will cling to the lie that this bill is a free invitation to the abortion clinic just because.
Stupak made the right choice. Nuns are the final arbiter of what is right and just and true. These "Susan B. Anthony" harpies are just a bunch of fake political troublemakers.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
erica
March 22, 2010 1:07 AM
I'm gonna start a group called "Ronald Reagan Conservative Defenders" but we're gonna advocate for all progressive stuff. It should be fun.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Jaime
March 22, 2010 9:32 AM
"People who want politicians to make choices governing women's bodies are "anti-choice.""
Good point. So now we have a Health Care Law bulging with 2700 pages of government regulation, establishing over 100 new buraucratic agencies, panels and regulatory bodies, and siphoning trillions of dollars out of our private economy via taxes, fees, and mandated payments, so the government can make ALL the choices about ALL our bodies, ALL the time.
There's liberty!
There's freedom!
There's choice!
Good work, team.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Tosh
June 6, 2010 2:51 AM
Can we please stop referring to these zealots as "pro-life"? I'm not "anti-life," fer gawd's sake, I'm "pro-choice." People who want politicians to make choices governing women's bodies are "anti-choice.
m65 kamagra
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
August 22, 2010 11:49 AM
Thank you for the mp3 dinle information your provide.mp3 indir
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?