Stupak & White House Reach Agreement

He got the best deal he could, and he was always clear that he wanted health care reform. However isn't this article implying that pro-life principles are more important to Bart Stupak then they are to NCR, which had endorsed this bill with the abortion language? Can it be concluded that the primary concern of NCR is the Democratic Party agenda? Certainly it cuts both ways doesn't it?

Crossposted...

The Executive Order is already null and void:

1. As an executive order, it is secondary in power to any law of the land as interpreted by the courts — unless the legislative and judicial branches have just ceded their powers to the executive, and we are in a dictatorship.

2. As an executive order, it is binding only on the activity of the executive branch, and within a narrow scope, on the activity of the legislative...but, not on the private providers who would provide abortions. For them it is not law; it is irrelevant.

3. Roe v. Wade obliges any legislation offering medical benefits to cover abortion unless some section in that legislation, such as the Hyde amendment, specifically excludes abortion. This legislation lacks the Hyde exclusion; therefore, this legislation falls under the Roe requirement. The Executive Order, even if it were not null and void, is written not to match the Hyde Amendment language, but rather to match the Senate legislation language which, as we all know, falls short of Hyde.

As such, the order offers no prevention of federally funded abortion even if it bore any authority.

4. And of course, Obama will deep-six the executive order whenever he might find it convenient. If somehow it is not a nullity, he will do so: He has never claimed to be pro-life. And if it is not a nullity, he will not need to vacate it, for it will have accomplished its intended goal without costing him the support of NARAL.

Of course, if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, none of this would be a problem.

But we all know, don’t we, that it’s foolish for pro-lifers to harp so much on the need to overturn that decision.

It’s counterproductive. It uses up resources that could be more profitably spent courting centrist Democrats and exploring our common ground.

We know that, this late in the day, it is no longer time for concern about Supreme Court justices and the presidents who select them; it is time to focus on new tactics involving engagement with pro-life Democrats.

That’s what we were repeatedly told, back during the 2008 election cycle.

Everyone remember that?

Let’s also keep in mind another lesson we learned that year: “Signing statements” are a tyrannical overreach of executive power in which George W. Bush altered the meaning of Congressional legislation at signing, a risky proposition and bad precedent which clearly indicated the need to switch parties in the White House for awhile, lest the occupant of the People’s House start to think his authority trumped that of the legislative branch.

Must remember that. That was one of those timeless truths for the ages.

I’ll lay aside my trowel, now: Whatever Babylonian tower we’re building in this country is already in danger of collapse from the sheer weight of the irony.

Here's my assessment of Archbishop Chaput's latest comments re: Stupak et al

Abortion & the Senate Healthcare Bill – a prudential judgment
http://bit.ly/aS2DwT

Extraordinary courage on display. I started the week with mixed feelings about Stupak, believing he might single handedly delay healthcare for millions. During his press conference though, I saw a man genuinely conflicted and my respect for him grew tremendously.

But last night on the floor of the House though, I saw an act of truly extraordinary personal courage. To stand in front of his fellow pro-life advocates from both parties and to call the Republican efforts to beat back just-approved healthcare reform on the basis of abortion language for the cynical effort it was, was an act of truly heroic personal courage.

He will be vilified by some on both sides. But there stands a man who worked through an anguishing decision and who last night represented all that is good about the church.

The Executive Order is meaningless. Bart Stupak made a big mistake.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air explains:

"More to the point, though, this EO will never have any effect. As a host of actual Constitutional authorities have already made clear, any court challenge will wind up with the government forced to obey the law Congress passed and the President signed for the same reasons Obama states in this clip. Congress makes law, not the President, and when an EO conflicts with the law, it’s the law that prevails. Otherwise, the President really does become a “monarch”, as Obama states in this clip, and Congress becomes an advisory board.

Obama knows this. The Republicans know this. Hell, even Bart Stupak knows this, but he just needed an excuse to change his vote, and everyone knows it."

I suspect RC and Patrick Dunn would rather stand with Randy Neugebauer. Now there's a REAL pro-lifer, by their standards. And how soon will the pro-life organizations that trip over themselves in their eagerness to denounce Bart Stupak turn around and honor Neugebauer?