Bart Stupak gets deal with White House; "yes" on Health Care Reform

Bart Stupak

Politico reports that The Obama White House and anti-abortion Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) have reached a deal on preventing the use of tax dollars for health care abortions. This closes a process that lasted late into Saturday night and into Sunday. Politico's sources report that President Obama will sign an executive order that no federal funds will be used to help pay for abortions in the Obama Health Care Reform Bill.

Now, Stupak and his gang of six will vote "yes" to support the Obama Health Care Reform Bill. While Politico's sources now report that Stupak's a yes, Bart Stupak himself has not said this. Stupak's on record as saying that he's a no vote until the agreement is done; now that it's finished, Stupak can be counted as a "yes" vote.

It's now apparent the White House has the 216 votes - perhaps more - to pass the bill and at the same time save some politically vulnerable Democrats from harm back home. Indeed, it was not clear how many "anti-abortion" Democrats Stupak was able to hang on to; the ranks were shrinking. One person who's still a "no" vote according to CNN is Rep. John Tanner (D- Tenn) who's retiring after this term.

Stay tuned.