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Stupak Amendment Passes 240-194
by Michael Sean Winters on Nov. 07, 2009
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Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionHallelujah! The Stupak Amendment just passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 240 to 194, with one member voting present. Earlier reports had predicted 225 votes for the amendment which bars federal funding of abortion as a part of health care reform but Congressman Stupak was able to whip up 64 Democratic votes. (Yes, 64 votes from what was recently called “The Party of Death.”) To be clear, only Democrats who favored health reform but oppose abortion could achieve this outcome. One of the fringe Catholic websites earlier was urging Congress to vote yes on Stupak and no on the final bill, which just doesn’t make much sense since the prohibitions on abortion funding in the Stupak Amendment would only take effect if the bill they amended takes effect.
The House is currently voting on the ridiculous GOP alternative plan, which will fail, and then they will proceed to a vote on the final health care bill.
Thanks be to God! Now the
Thanks be to God! Now the Bishops have NO reason whatsoever not to throw their full support behind the President's plan for universal healthcare coverage for all Americans! It's also a plan that His Holiness alluded to in his explanation of Catholic social teaching in "Caritas in Veritate"
... unless, of course, they
... unless, of course, they happen to have read the Holy Father's encyclical, Centesimus Annus, which warns specifically against this type of expansion in government:
"However, excesses and abuses, especially in recent years, have provoked very harsh criticisms of the Welfare State, dubbed the "Social Assistance State". Malfunctions and defects in the Social Assistance State are the result of an inadequate understanding of the tasks proper to the State. "
"By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending. In fact, it would appear that needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them and who act as neighbours to those in need. "
This is great, but just the
This is great, but just the beginning. I was in the House Gallery last night during the discussions of the Stupak Amendment. I had to leave before the final vote.
I am so happy about this, i was saying MEMORARIES (SAY NINE IN A ROW FOR YOUR INTENTIONS) while I was seated up in the House gallery. I do have to say though I witnessed some horrible sights when the Women and Men Representatives (I am a woman) that did not want to see the stupak Amendment pass spoke. These representatives were SO BOTHERED at the idea of the Stupak Amendment, they could hardly contain themselves. AGAIN, I AM SO SO SO GRATEFUL THE STUPAK AMENDMENT PASSED. This is just ONE STEP THOUGH, WE HAVE TO STAY ON TOP OF the the next steps of the HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL. This is only the beginnign, pease Pray and remain active in letting your Senators and representtaives Know the Givernment Most certiany should not even think of payoing for Abortions. Oh, Everyone can be SO PROUD of the Legislators that spoke SUPPORTING the stupak Amendment. I don't wabnt to single out any because so many Demcrats and Repeublicans displayed there TRUE RESPECT FOR LIFE. Thank God for them and everyone contacting there representatives.
This should be called the
This should be called the Liberal Catholic Reporter. There is a lot of political bias in this short article. Of course pro-lifers are going to rally for the Stupak admendment even if they are opposed to the health care bill. The effects of protecting life would be accomplished either by the admendment or by NOT passing the current health care bill. Michael also displays an incredible amount of bias by name-calling the GOP bill. I would expect better from a Catholic news agency.
While it's certainly good
While it's certainly good news that the Stupak ammendment passed, it's not quite time to start celebrating. There's still much work to do, because we have yet to see what the final Senate version of a health care reform bill will look like. In addition, you can bet that when the House and Senate versions of the bill get to conference committee, abortion funding will be back on the bargaining table.
Fringe Catholic website? You mean NCRonline?
The Catholic Church should
The Catholic Church should attend to the problem of molestation within its organization instead of covering up it. Nobody in their right mind would consider the Catholic Church a source of moral leadership.
Michael, Not sure what else
Michael,
Not sure what else to call the Party of Death: up till the last minute, the Speaker was ready to choke off any free debate on the Stupak Amendment until she felt threatened that Obamacare itself would die if it had to carry abortion funding. And why is it that when a Catholic becomes a Democrat federal officeholder, he feels a compulsion to be a Democrat, but rarely a Catholic--at least on the life issues. Consider the "distinguished" list of Democratic "Catholic" politicians diligently advancing the culture of death: Ted Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Kate Sibelius, Robert Drinan, Pat Leahy, John Kerry, Chris Dodd.... why, in that outfit, when you agree to vote against pre-birth infanticide (partial birth abortion), you suddenly become hailed as a "moderate" like Dan Moynihan and Joe Biden!!! Finally consider what doesn't "make sense" -- if Obamacare is enacted, we need the Stupak amendment; if Obamacare perishes, the Stupak amendment adds nothing and the status quo (the Hyde Amendment) prevails.
"One of the fringe Catholic
"One of the fringe Catholic websites earlier was urging Congress to vote yes on Stupak and no on the final bill, which just doesn’t make much sense since the prohibitions on abortion funding in the Stupak Amendment would only take effect if the bill they amended takes effect."
Does your car have an airbag and a seatbelt? Why?
Voting yes on the Stupak amendment ensures that if the bill passes, it will have at least some protection against federal funding of abortion. There are many reasons for voting against the final bill, even if abortion were totally prohibited. For one thing, it expands the "welfare state" which Pope John Paul II warned against in his encyclical Centesimus annus.
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