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The one bright spot in yesterday’s firestorm of health care reform news was that Barbara Boxer drove a stake through the heart of Ben Nelson’s version of the anti-choice Stupak amendment. Her motion to permanently table it easily passed with 54 votes.
Diana DeGette of the Pro-Choice Caucus in the House,
“I am delighted the U.S. Senate has rejected an extreme amendment that would have turned back the clock on a woman’s right to choose. The underlying Senate bill already prohibits federal funding of abortion. The amendment the Senate rejected today was an attempt to use health care reform to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services. Throughout the conference process, pro-choice Members will be working to ensure that health care reform legislation does not restrict abortion rights beyond current law. Over 40 Members of the House have vowed not to support a conference report that further restricts a woman’s right to choose.”
So we can fold up our tent and start our Christmas shopping early, right?
Not a chance.
Look, by now we’ve all heard the reports that President Obama promised to strip Stupak from the final bill, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah….
Well, if anything, yesterday’s events puts a bright, shining spotlight to how this process really works. The cold, hard truth is Obama won’t lift a finger if it means losing even a few votes in the House for the final bill. And so far, One Voice For Choice is the only campaign going on out there that’s targeting the Stupak coalition of conservadems that says you can’t pass a final bill without gutting women’s reproductive rights.
This latest development in the Senate makes our work even more urgent. Because now, the only thing standing between a woman’s right to chose and Bart Stupak is us.
We have phone banks coming up this week in the DC Metro area, New York City, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas and California.
Join one of phone bank efforts already going, or if there’s not one in your district, to start one of your own. It’s easy, it’s fun, and best of all, you will make a difference.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9
New York (Manhattan), NY
6pm-9pm
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10
New York (Manhattan), NY
6pm-9pm
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
Mar Vista, CA
12-3pm
Downtown Los Angeles, CA
9am-3pm
Simi Valley, CA
1pm-3pm
Austin, Texas
1pm-5pm
Rockville, MD
3pm-6pm
(Jane Hamsher will be at this one!)
San Francisco, CA
11am-2pm
Fresno,CA
1pm-4pm
San Diego CA
12-3pm
Elizabethtown, PA
6-8pm
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16
New York (Manhattan), NY
6pm-8pm
Denver, CO
6pm-9pm
7 Comments
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Thank you!
Seconded!
Any feel for where Joe Donnelly (D – Indiana, district 2) is on this? I know he’s a Catholic and tends to be pretty anti-choice, but I also know we (local Democrats) have been able to put a little pressure on him. Do we need to do that again?
I would like to know that, too. And Bayh and Lugar.
Marta,
You said yesterday that I received an email asking me to do one more thing to finish setting up the event in Knoxville, TN (37923) so that you can put it up in posts.
I didn’t get an email asking me to do anything of the sort, and I responded to the email I got from events AT firedoglake DOT com when I first set up the event to ask about what I need to do, but it was undeliverable.
I sent this email to Jane and to firedoglake AT gmail DOT com last night:
No response.
Jane has a fresh cross-post available: “Thanks, Blanche Lincoln!”
Joe, please email me directly at onevoiceforchoice@gmail.com directly and we’ll get this cleared up.