Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: Congressman Bart Stupak, Democrat, Defending the Right to Life in Heath Care

Deacon Keith Fournier writes at Catholic Online:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Congressman Bart Stupak is a Democrat from the first Congressional District of Michigan. He Co-Chairs the Bi-Partisan Pro-Life Caucus with Republican Congressman Chris Smith. He is one of a strong and vocal contingent of Pro-Life Democrats who carry on the legacy of the late, great Governor of Pennsylvania Bob Casey. They hear the cry of all the poor, including children in the first home of the whole human race, their mother’s womb. They recognize the truth that these dear children whom Mother Teresa rightly called the “poorest of the poor” have no voice but ours. They are our first neighbors.

As the debate over health care reform continues in the United States , we must keep in focus our first and primary concern, to ensure that if any Health Reform legislation passes, it absolutely and explicitly forbids the expenditure of Federal funds to kill these children in the womb by funding abortions, directly or indirectly. It is people like Bart Stupak who are becoming the great champions of this fundamental human rights issue in their own Party. They may also turn out to be the key in defending against a stealth abortion mandate at the National level.

On September 16, 2009, Congressman Stupak gave an interview to Megyn Kelly of Fox news in which he strongly contended that President Obama’s assurances that funding abortion is simply not going to happen are not reliable. In fact, he said it “is just not true” and that he is “disappointed” that the President continues to make the claim.

Yet the President has sent Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius out to ride point on the issue after making just such an explicit claim in his recent address to both Houses of Congress. In an interview with the Washington Post on September 15, 2009, the Secretary could not have been clearer in underscoring the claim, responding to a direct question with this assertion: “Well, the President has made it pretty clear that Congress and the new health insurance plan will not provide federal funds for abortions”.

However, this Pro-Life Congressman, from the President’s own Party, is not buying these assurances. He is from Michigan but his behavior reminds me of the old adage "I'm from Missouri". In other words, “Show Me.” In this, he gives us all a great example of how we must respond to such assurances. Congressman Stupak is ready to act to make sure that not one Federal dollar is spent to shed the innocent blood of our youngest neighbors...

[More]