IT PASSED

I used to live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, and I was working in the downtown area when Jimmy Johnson quit/was fired from his job as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, shortly after coaching the team to their second straight Super Bowl victory. The headline on the Dallas Morning News was only two words, in large bold letters that filled the top half of the front page:

IT'S OVER

One was tempted to wonder if the headline referred to a single man's employment with a local sports team, or Armageddon.

In the event, it wasn't the end of the world after all, and the Cowboys returned two years later under another coach to make three championships in four years.

The passage of the healthcare bill is a moment in American history which I believe will stand with the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision, the passage of the "Great Compromise" of 1850, and of course, Roe v. Wade.

Congressman Bart Stupak, on whom the hopes of so many were pinned, proved that he was a Democrat first, and pro-life second, if ever. He accepted a deal whereby President Obama promised to do with an executive order what the Congress refused to do by amendment: prevent federal funding of abortion:

The National Right to Life Committee quickly issued a scathing statement disputing Stupak's claim.

"The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing," the group said. "It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill."

The powerful Catholic bishops weren't on board, either.

"Without seeing the details of the executive order, our conclusion has been that an executive order cannot override or change the central problems in the statute. Those need a legislative fix," Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops' conference's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said in an interview.

The bishops contend that the legislation before the House Sunday allows federal funding of abortion.

The bill tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer funds and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage. No health plan would be required to offer coverage for the procedure. In plans that do cover abortion, beneficiaries would have to pay for it separately, and those funds would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money.

Moreover, individual states would be able to prohibit abortion coverage in plans offered through a new purchasing exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.

Abortion foes contend that the separation of funds is an accounting gimmick, and in reality taxpayers would be paying for abortion because health plans that cover abortion would be getting federal money.

Obama's executive order, the product of frenzied 11th-hour negotiations involving Stupak's group and members of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, orders federal officials to develop guidelines to carry out the segregation of private and public funds. The order also sets out a mechanism aiming to ensure that community health centers cannot use federal funds for abortions, another concern for the Stupak group.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., an abortion-rights supporter, said she thinks current law and the language in the health care bill go too far in restricting access to abortion. But DeGette said she doesn't have a problem with the executive order because "it doesn't change anything." [Emphasis added.]

The deal was also sweetened with a $725,000 grant for three airports in Stupak's district.

Can anyone really imagine that the president whose first executive order was to abrogate the Mexico City Policy and provide federal funding for abortion providers overseas is going to enforce an executive order alleged to prevent funding of abortion in this country?

If you are pro-life, but prefer to vote Democratic, the passage of the largest expansion of abortion access since Roe v. Wade should be disturbing to you, especially if you, like me, were counting on Bart Stupak to stick to his guns. The Republican Party, while far from perfect on our issues, now stands as the only credible game in town for any possibility of advancing pro-life legislation, or opposing pro-abortion legislation like this healthcare bill. Anyone who thought otherwise should have had their eyes opened to the truth of this point last night.

Here in Lake County, our two Congressional representatives, both supporters of abortion rights, split on this bill along party lines, with Mark Kirk (R-10th District) voting nay, and Melissa Bean (D-8th District) voting aye, despite a series of demonstrations outside her office, including one in the snow this past Saturday, which took place literally as she was announcing her decision to vote yes (look for me at the 1:24 mark):



As with the Cowboys and their coach, this is not the end of the world. It is a setback, to be sure. But while education and prayer remain important weapons in our arsenal, I think that the lesson to take from this defeat is that pro-life people must not neglect politics and political action in fighting against abortion in our country.

(Cross-posted to Thoughts of a Regular Guy.)