As I've said in a number of previous postings, I admire Bart Stupak for speaking out now--and I'm sorry for the pain he's enduring at the hands of those who previously regarded him as their ally in a last-ditch effort to halt health care reform. I find it strange that Stupak couldn't see how he was being used prior to the blowback against him after he voted for health care reform.
And now there's more. This weekend, Stupak told his side of the story in an op-ed statement in the Washington Post. Here are the paragraphs that leap out:
The true motives of many blogs and organizations claiming to be pro-life have become clear in recent days: to politicize life issues as a means to defeat health care reform. One group even sent an e-mail to supporters saying they are "working feverishly to stop this legislation from going forward."
The pro-life groups rallied behind me -- many without my knowledge or consent -- not necessarily because they shared my goals of ensuring protections for life and passing health-care reform but because they viewed me as their best chance to kill health-care legislation.
The true motives of many groups claiming to be pro-life are now being made clear: it was all about defeating health care reform.
Stupak doesn't name the U.S. Catholic bishops--as a body--in this statement, even though he has all but stated that they wrote his amendment for him. But I'm willing to name them and put them in the column of those using Stupak to defeat health care reform for political reasons.
To their shame.
The graphic for this posting is a piece entitled "Unmask" by Austin, Texas, artist Peg Runnels.
