Actual Action At the House Rules Committee On The Health Care Bill: Stupak Amendment To Get Floor Vote

So David Dreier and the Republicans are making a bunch of attempted amendments to the rule, none of which are being allowed, as the Democrats vote as a block.

Rep. Alcee Hastings actually read the rule out, and it appeared to me that Rep. Stupak’s amendment on abortion language was going to be allowed on the floor. I’m trying to get confirmation on this. The AP had a story that this would happen, but when Stupak testified in committee he claimed that the deal fell apart and he was “scrambling” in an effort to get the amendment on the floor. So I’m trying to figure things out.

Jim McGovern and Pete Sessions are getting in a fight about the stimulus. They’re all slap-happy.

…Wow, it looks like the Stupak amendment will get a floor vote. The Democratic leadership is making a bet that, if it doesn’t pass, Stupak and his cadres will sign on to the bill (I highly doubt it; most of them are no votes on health care entirely); and if it does pass, pro-choice Democrats won’t sink the bill entirely (also, I highly doubt it). I’m a bit surprised that it’s come to this. Also, Stupak appeared to have lied in the Rules Committee about how the deal “fell apart,” since he got what he wanted.

This is an enormous bet, and not a well-designed one either, in my view. The Democratic Party will tomorrow give a minority of their caucus an opportunity to amend a large health care bill that would effectively ban abortion services coverage in the individual and small group insurance market, essentially telling private insurance companies what they cannot cover.

UPDATE: Here’s more on this from the Washington Post. Pro-choice Democrats are seething right now.

The amendment is expected to pass with the combined support of more than 40 anti-abortion Democrats and virtually every House Republican. That likelihood meant that leaders of the much larger group of Democrats who support abortion rights were not happy to learn of the deal.

“There will be no abortion, not just with public funds, but with private funds under the public option, and that’s not acceptable,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).

House leaders met with that bloc of Democrats late Friday to try to quell their frustration., but the agreement makes clear that they believe abortion-rights Democrats will find it difficult to vote against the health-care bill even with such a restriction attached to it.

They totally caved because they couldn’t find the votes for their bill. Now they’ll try to jam it down the throats of pro-choice Dems. And they’ll probably succeed. A case in point: in discussing the Stupak Amendment in committee, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) said it would lead to back-alley abortions with coathangers and said if it passed, he would “have a lot of trouble” voting for the bill. But when it came time to vote on the final rule, Hastings said “I am voting with history, I vote yes.” He’ll say the same thing when he votes to ban abortion coverage in the private individual and small group market by passing the bill tomorrow.

Also, we’ll never know if Stupak was bluffing.

Related posts:

1. House Voting Now On The Rule For Health Care Debate
2. Senate Likely to Need 60 Votes to Insert Stupak Amendment into Health Care Bill
3. Fox’s New Friend Stupak Says He’ll Take Down Health Bill over His Amendment
4. Will Planned Parenthood and NARAL Score the House Health Care Bill?
5. House Health Care Vote Scheduled for Saturday