Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), a Catholic, self-proclaimed pro-lifer who we have praised time and again on this blog, caved to the pressure today from Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. He struck a deal on healthcare reform that says the President will sign an executive order that upholds current law regarding federal funding of abortion and protects conscience rights. HERE is the text of the executive order.
Many pro-life groups, including the Family Research Council, Americans United for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List, have all shot down the authenticity of the executive order, declaring it essentially not worth the paper it’s printed on. And lest one forget, one of the first executive orders signed by President Obama during his first week in office was to send money overseas for abortion.
Below are statements from pro-life leaders on this most recent news:
Penny Nance, Concerned Women for America
“The deal made includes an illusory promise from the President that after his health care bill passes, he will sign an executive order to ensure that the Hyde Amendment is applied to the bill. However, it is the height of absurdity to trust the most pro-abortion President in history, especially in a back room deal he is surely using to scrape a few more votes from the bottom of the barrel.
“Our members know that under the Constitution of this country, Congress makes the laws of the country and not the President. This executive order is not worth the paper on which it’s written. An executive order from the President can be just as easily undone. The fact that Rep. Stupak says this is a strong statement by President Obama outlining his intent is utterly astounding especially since President Obama is the one who ensured that the Stupak-Pitts pro-life amendment was not included in the Senate bill.”
Doug Johnson, National Right to Life Committee
“A lawmaker who votes for this bill is voting to require federal agencies to subsidize and administer health plans that will pay for elective abortion, and voting to undermine longstanding pro-life policies in other ways as well. Pro-life citizens nationwide know that this is a pro-abortion bill. Pro-life citizens know, and they will be reminded again and again, which lawmakers deserve their gratitude for voting against this pro-abortion legislation.
“The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says.”
Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life Action
“This deal to pass the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade is a tragedy for America. We believe that Mr. Stupak’s choice to succumb to the intense pressure of the last week has resulted in his endorsement of a charade that does not even begin to address the anti-life provisions in this legislation. The American people do not support taxpayer funding of abortion and Speaker Pelosi and the President have undermined representative democracy by working to pass this legislation with this unprecedented contortion of the legislative process.”
Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America
“I am extremely disappointed to hear that Con. Stupak and other Democrats who call themselves ‘pro-life’ have caved to a promise President Obama made to them. Why would he trust him when in his first week as President one of his first actions was to fund abortions overseas with tax-payer dollars. Legal scholars agree that an Executive Order will not be strong enough to prevent tax-payer money from funding abortions in the new healthcare take over. Further, Con. Stupak and his other Democrats with them have sold out millions of Americans with disabilities and expensive-to-treat diseases. Make no mistake about it: healthcare rationing will take place with those who need it most and now the 72% of Americans who disagree with tax-payer funded abortions will pay for the slaughter of innocent life.”
Lila Rose, Live Action
“We are dismayed that Congressman Stupak has made a backroom deal with pro-abortion forces. Stupak and his colleagues have appointed President Obama to do their job for them, making the President the sole guardian of pro-life integrity in the health care plan. The chickens have elected the fox to guard the henhouse. It is absurd to trust that Obama, the most pro-abortion president in our history, will stop taxes from paying for abortions. We can only imagine the foul pressures brought upon Congressman Stupak by Obama’s Administration and Pelosi’s Majority. If this bill is not stopped, the consequences of Stupak’s deal with pro-abortion forces will lead to the deaths of countless more defenseless, unborn Americans. With this bill, the IRS will be Planned Parenthood’s cashier as Americans are forced to fund this horrific human rights abuse.”
Bradley Mattes, Life Issues Institute
“Bart Stupak and other so-called pro-life Democrats in the House have sold out America’s unborn babies on a promise made by the most pro-abortion president in our nation’s history.
Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
“Barack Obama spent less than one week in office before issuing an executive order making Americans fund abortion performance and promotion aboard. Anyone who thinks he and his administration won’t seek ways to fund abortion via this health care bill hasn’t been paying attention.”
Brian Burch, CatholicVote.org
“The decision by Rep. Stupak to accept an Executive Order to solve the abortion issues in the health care legislation is unconscionable. The Executive Order fix is a band-aid solution that fails to solve the fundamental problems in this bill, and can be repealed at any time, for any reason, by the President or future presidents. The Order is likely to be challenged by pro-abortion groups, and could be struck down by the courts.
“Regrettably, Rep. Stupak has abandoned those who have stood by him during the recent weeks and months. The Catholic Bishops along with CatholicVote.org and every major pro-life organization oppose this ‘fix.’ We have defended Rep. Stupak for months, but today we stand in protest of his decision.
“The Stupak-Obama purported fix also sets the stage for a new front in presidential politics that will further politicize the abortion issue. The decision over taxpayer funding for abortion and critical conscience protections now rests with President Obama, Kathleen Sebelius, and future presidents.
“Catholics have worked hard to make the protection of unborn life a two-party effort. Pro-life members of the Democratic Party encouraged these efforts over the last year. But today’s decision by Rep. Stupak and his colleagues, coming only months after the phony compromise of Sen. Nelson will be difficult to overcome.
“We are convinced Rep. Stupak will come to deeply regret today’s decision.”
Day Gardner, National Black Pro-Life Union
“Polls have consistently shown that America does not want this healthcare monster for many reasons, yet, apparently it is being shoved down our throats anyway. any Americans put so much trust in Rep. Bart Stupak and the other Democrats who stood with him when they promised that they would stand firm–no matter what–to insure there would be NO taxpayer funded abortion.
“President Obama is a staunch abortion supporter. He doesn’t care about the 50 million children (including 17 million black babies) that have been butchered by abortionists since 1973. He will say whatever it takes to get this horrible bill passed including issuing an ‘executive order’ to do so.
“It’s amazing that after saying over and over that there was no tax payer funding for abortion in the 2700 page monster—he issued an order about tax payer funding in abortion. President Obama lied…again. And Rep. Bart Stupak is just another member of Congress who promised so much, yet delivered so little.”
Jennifer Giroux, Women Influencing the Nation
“All one needs to know in order to understand this new government healthcare and supposed ban on federal funding of abortions is the order which directs the Secretary of Health and Human services (Kathleen Sebelius) to develop within 180 days a ‘model set of segregation guidelines’ for compliance…….no doubt these guidelines will mirror the respect and compliance she showed for the late term abortion laws in Kansas under her watch as Governor – that would be NONE. God have mercy on our nation”.
Bobby Schindler, The Terri Schiavo Foundation
“The passage of government controlled health care will further reveal the truth of futile care theory (death panels), forcing countless families to watch their loved ones die the same inhumane death we watched my sister Terri die”
Dr. David Stevens, Christian Medical Association
“Millions of poor patients and those in medically underserved areas currently depend on care from faith-based hospitals, clinics and physicians who follow life-affirming ethical standards such as those found in the Hippocratic oath and the Judeo-Christian Scriptures.
“National polling reveals that 95 percent of faith-based physicians say they will be forced to leave medicine without conscience protections. The last-minute deal for an Executive Order relating to abortion and conscience—the deal that changed the ‘No’ votes of pro-life Democrats to ‘Yes’–was like trading a birthright for a mess of pottage. The executive order, which added no additional conscience protections whatsoever, can be changed tomorrow by this President, or later by any subsequent President, with the stroke of a pen. The healthcare bill, meanwhile, becomes permanent law.”
Dorinda Bordlee, Bioethics Defense Fund
“The language of the Executive Order reveals that it was a meaningless sham designed to induce the Stupak Democrats to vote ‘yes’ on the Senate bill that provides federal subsidies and direct funding of abortion. The Obama administration knows full well that statutory law overrides executive orders. The President acting alone cannot “extend” the Hyde Amendment policy to new programs as the Executive Order vaguely purports to do – only the Congress can do that. A court challenge (i.e. by Planned Parenthood) would immediately invalidate the null promises of the Executive Order. Bioethics Defense Fund is deeply disappointed that the Stupak Democrats allowed empty words and an obvious political ploy to trump the sanctity of life principle that they claimed to defend.”
Society (JCS), the Catholic DC-based organization that annually sponsors the Red Mass, has scheduled Sr. Carol Keehan to be the speaker at their Annual Dinner on April 16. Sr. Carol Keehan is the President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association and has recently come under fire for her outright support of the healthcare bill that includes federal funding of abortion. On March 11, Sr. Keehan wrote a letter to the House of Representatives which urged the congressmen to “move quickly” to support the Senate-approved bill. For her strong support of the controversial health care bill despite the objections of U.S. Bishops, she was one of the 21 people to be awarded a pen used by Barack Obama in signing the health care bill. This is traditionally done to honor lawmakers and proponents who have played a major role in pushing through a piece of legislation.
Yesterday, those of us in the Diocese of Arlington were asked to keep a day of prayer and fasting by Bishop Loverde to ask God’s protection and guidance for those who are crafting health care legislation. I imagine that it is no accident that the petitions for Evening Prayer in the Divine Office for yesterday started off with these:
