Obama himself has weighed into the Stupak amendment debacle. He just gave an interview to ABC News and stated that he is against the language of the Stupak amendment.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
This is what Obama told Jack Tapper this evening in his interview for World News Tonight.
President Obama said today that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend that includes tougher restrictions on abortion funding but said there is more work to be done before a final piece of legislation gets to his desk.
I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," Obama said. "And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions.
Saying the bill cannot change the status quo, the President said "there are strong feelings on both sides" about an amendment passed on Saturday and added to the legislation, "and what that tells me is that there needs to be some more work before we get to the point where we're not changing the status quo."
In an exclusive television interview in the Map Rom of the White House, Obama told ABC News' Jake Tapper that he was confident that the final legislation will ensure that "neither side feels that it's being betrayed."
I want to make sure that the provision that emerges meets that test -- that we are not in some way sneaking in funding for abortions, but, on the other hand, that we're not restricting women's insurance choices," he said.
Also, it appears that some in the GOP Senate are also cool to the Stupak amendment.
http://www.politico.com/...
Senator Alexander:
Senate Republicans seem initially cool to Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) amendment in House health-care overhaul legislation, which essentially blocks the federal funding of abortions.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the third-ranking Republican in the body, said abortion is an important issue but "the issues that are going to dominate the health care debate are whether we’re reducing costs or whether we’re increasing the costs for most Americans."
Senator Collins:
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who looks to be emerging as a bi-partisan deal-broker on health-care reform, said she prefers the Senate Finance Committee’s language, which she said puts up a "firewall" to prevent the federal funding of abortions.