Health Care

Dirty Dozen: Does Stupak Really Have The Votes Needed To Sink Health Care?

Brian Beutler | March 8, 2010, 9:45AM

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) is holding health care reform hostage over the issue of abortion. He says he can flip about a dozen "yes" votes on health care (including his own) to "no" votes if nothing is done about the Senate bill's abortion language--which he and other pro-life Dems oppose.

House Democratic leadership is negotiating with Stupak, suggesting they think there might be something to his threat--and, of course, they recall November when his bid to insert restrictive abortion language in the House health care bill prevailed. So who are the Stupak-12?

It's hard to say for sure--Stupak hasn't named names. But it is possible to whittle down a list of likely suspects.

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Health Care

Pro-Life Dems Targeted On Health Care

Christina Bellantoni | January 11, 2010, 7:15PM

Former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)

As House Democrats return to Washington and prepare to huddle with leadership on health care, an anti-abortion group is going after 13 pro-life Democrats by staging rallies in their district offices and urging them to oppose the final plan.

A House Democratic leadership aide told TPMDC today that abortion provisions are still a big question left unresolved as the House and Senate attempt to reconcile their versions of the health care plan in hopes of getting something to President Obama within the month.

Another leadership aide said the broader questions about how to pay for health care will be the first thing that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team will discuss during a caucus meeting tomorrow night. The abortion question will be decided later during the negotiations, the aide said.

But Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) is pressuring Democrats to oppose the final plan, saying the language Sen. Ben Nelson had inserted in the Senate version isn't tough enough.

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