The Stupak deal has riled up many pro-choice groups, who might have used some of their outrage when the Stupak fight started lo these many months ago to have prevented him from hijacking the healthcare debate and further restricting women's rights. Nonetheless, here's NARAL:
"On a day when Americans are expected to see passage of legislation that will make health care more affordable for more than 30 million citizens, it is deeply disappointing that Bart Stupak and other anti-choice politicians would demand the restatement of the Hyde amendment, a discriminatory law that blocks low-income women from receiving full reproductive-health care. Today's action is a stark reminder of why we must repeal this unfair and insulting policy. Achieving this goal means increasing the number of lawmakers in Congress who share our pro-choice values. Otherwise, we will continue to see women's reproductive rights used as a bargaining chip."
Here's NOW:
The National Organization for Women is incensed that President Barack Obama agreed today to issue an executive order designed to appease a handful of anti-choice Democrats who have held up health care reform in an effort to restrict women's access to abortion. Through this order, the president has announced he will lend the weight of his office and the entire executive branch to the anti-abortion measures included in the Senate bill, which the House is now prepared to pass.
President Obama campaigned as a pro-choice president, but his actions today suggest that his commitment to reproductive health care is shaky at best. Contrary to language in the draft of the executive order and repeated assertions in the news, the Hyde Amendment is not settled law -- it is an illegitimate tack-on to an annual must-pass appropriations bill. NOW has a longstanding objection to Hyde and, in fact, was looking forward to working with this president and Congress to bring an end to these restrictions. We see now that we have our work cut out for us far beyond what we ever anticipated. The message we have received today is that it is acceptable to negotiate health care on the backs of women, and we couldn't disagree more.
And Planned Parenthood, via e-mail:
"We regret that a pro-choice president of a pro-choice nation was forced to sign an Executive Order that further codifies the proposed anti-choice language in the health care reform bill, originally proposed by Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska. What the president's executive order did not do is include the complete and total ban on private health insurance coverage for abortion that Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) had insisted upon. So while we regret that this proposed Executive Order has given the imprimatur of the president to Senator Nelson's language, we are grateful that it does not include the Stupak abortion ban."
And some members of the pro-choice caucus in the House isn't at all happy about the fact that the executive order was released before showing it to them. This was an unfortunate learning experience for many on the left, but what it shows more than anything is that abortion rights groups, and members, need to rethink their approach to negotiation on our rights.
Update: At HuffPo, Diana DeGette is disputing the assertion that the pro-choice caucus didn't see the language prior to it's release, as they were involved in the drafting, but remains disgruntled.
DeGette said that the Pro-Choice Caucus had, however, been involved in the crafting of the language. Lawyers from the White House met with her, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and leadership staff at noon for roughly an hour, while the pro-life group was in a room nearby.
"We looked at the language, we gave our comments and they left us and said we’ll get back to you," said DeGette.
And when did they get back to you?
"About," DeGette said, pulling out her BlackBerry to scroll through it looking for the e-mail. "Four o’clock."
She said they signed off on the language after they received it at 4:00, meaning they signed off on it after Stupak’s press conference began and long after he had scheduled it.
DeGette, a member of the whip team, said that there was no reason for the White House to enter into the deal, because Democrats had the votes without Stupak’s group. Then why cut the deal? "You have to ask the White House why they did it. It was really coming from the White House," she said. "The Speaker wasn’t even in the meeting."