Pro-life Dem not confident health bill will bar abortion funding

A leading pro-life Democrat said Friday he is "not very confident" that Congress will clearly stipulate a ban on federal funding for abortions in healthcare legislation.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the Democratic leader of the bipartisan pro-life caucus in Congress, said that the health reform bills in Congress should include a version of the so-called "Hyde amendment," the 1976 ban on federal funding for abortion.

"Unfortunately, I don't see a clear resolution right now," Stupak told U.S. News. "I'm prepared to go to the Rules Committee and offer the Hyde Amendment. I'm not too sure I'll get very far because no right-to-life amendments have been made to order all year."

Stupak said he was concerned that any amendment he would offer on barring abortion funding in health legislation would be watered down by leaders in his party, and called on President Barack Obama to more forcefully intervene to ensure that health legislation won't include funding, as the president has promised.

"I'm not very confident," Stupak explained. "I still think somewhere along this process, and hopefully before the first vote on the House floor, the president should weigh in."

An amendment had been offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) to prohibit funding for abortions in almost all circumstances, but pro-life groups have argued the amendment does not go far enough in stipulating no federal funding for pregnancy termination.

The Michigan lawmaker said a conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had also done little to change his mind on the abortion provision, and that she encouraged him to work out a compromise with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).