Stupak warns foes they're 'playing with fire'

Opponents of an House amendment barring federal funding for abortion are "playing with fire," the amendment's author cautioned.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the lawmaker who attached a controversial amendment to the House's health reform bill this past weekend, defended his provision and signaled he'd press forward with it.

"We are in contact with senators to make sure our language holds," Stupak told the Detroit News. "The other side is playing with fire."

Democratic leaders have lamented the amendment, which bars the proposed public insurance plan from providing abortions as well as prevent subsidies under the new government plan from going to plans covering abortions.

Those leaders have said they supported allowing a vote on the measure in hopes that it would be stripped during conference with the Senate bill, though some senators, like Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), have said they might not support a health bill without similar language, and may offer a Stupak-like amendment.

If such an amendment were adopted in the Senate, it would make the provision's removal more unlikely during the conference process.

"We are sticking to our principles," Stupak said in defense of his amendment.

The Michigan Democrat had threatened to carry as many as 40 votes from pro-life Democrats with him in opposition to the bill if it hadn't included his amendment.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the chief vote-counter for the House Democrats, threw some cold water on that claim during an interview on Tuesday, claiming the Stupak amendment was only needed to secure 10 or 11 votes.

According to the News, Stupak was non-committal on the fate of his amendment, despite the rhetorical threat. The congressman would not say if he'd vote for a conference report that strips his amendment, but told the News that he would not have supported the House health bill in last Saturday's vote without the amendment.

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