Stupak concedes abortion provision unlikely to pass Senate

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Monday he thinks its unlikely the Senate will pass restrictions on funding for abortion similar to those passed by the House.

Stupak, the author of an amendment to the House's health reform bill that curtailed federal subsidies for coverage of abortion, told the Detroit Free Press it's unlikely the Senate will pass a similar amendment.

“I think it will be a tight vote,” Stupak told the paper. “I don’t think we will prevail in the Senate.”

"We always knew the Senate was an uphill battle," he added.

The Senate is set to vote this week on an amendment from Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) mirroring the House provision, though a number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said it's unlikely that such a provision would get the 60 necessary votes to pass.

Nelson has said he'd oppose ending a filibuster for any bill without the abortion restrictions, while Stupak has said he has the votes in the House to defeat a healthcare bill if his abortion provision is removed during conference with the Senate.