When President Obama vowed to exclude federal subsidies for abortion from the health care bill, pro-lifers were skeptical. When Rep. Bart Stupak told me, during an interview for the National Catholic Register, that the president had reassured him of the White House's support for the Stupak-Pitts amendment, I was skeptical. Now, David Axelrod, one of Obama's closest advisors, has publicly confirmed, during an interview on Fox News, that the White House plans to suppress the Stupak-Pitts amendment. Meanwhile, news reports suggest that Senate Democrats could have trouble rounding up the required 60 votes to pass a health care reform bill.
Meanwhile, the U.S.bishops have refused to back off from their fight to exclude abortion funding from the health care bill. At their semi-annual meeting in Baltimore this week, they vowed to lobby the Senate, and many bishops are expected to visit Capitol HIll before they head home to their dioceses.
Cardinal George, president of the bishops conference, affirmed the hierarchy's "moral" obligation to defend the unborn, and insisted that universal coverage of health care had nothing to do with the destruction of innocent human life.
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