Terry O’Neill, President of the National Organization for Women, called the Stupak abortion amendment in the House health care bill a “terrible, disastrous deal” today on MSNBC. Watch the video below.
Appearing on the show Dr. Nancy with anchor Dr. Nancy Snyderman, O’Neill said the amendment took her by surprise and that her organization — along with other women’s rights groups — is doing everything in their power to keep it out of the final bill.
“It definitely caught me off guard,” O’Neill said. “On Saturday morning, I started getting calls and emails and texts saying, you know, there’s a deal that’s been cut and it’s a terrible, disastrous deal. The Stupak-Pitts amendment, I believe, essentially overrules Roe v. Wade.”
The NOW president had the chance to make her voice heard to the Obama administration yesterday when she met with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and health care czar Nancy-Ann DeParle.
“We are doing everything to make sure that [the Stupak amendment] does not get into the Senate bill,” O’Neill said on MSNBC. “That’s not a health bill — it’s not acceptable to change health care for America while sending women off into the back alley to die.” Her language echoes that of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who took to the House floor during Saturday’s health care debate to fight the amendment: “This amendment takes us one step back to those dark days of back-alley abortions… this puts the religious views back into our politics. This is outrageous.”
As for the religion involved, Dr. Nancy believes “Catholic bishops appearing and having a political voice seems to be a most fundamental violation of church and state.” Catholic bishops lobbied hard for the amendment to pass. In response, O’Neill said, “I don’t know where the Internal Revenue Service is, but I hope they’re paying attention.”
The fate of the Stupak language is unclear, as it sows anger as well as confusion on Capitol Hill. What’s certain is that groups like NOW, NARAL and Planned Parenthood — caught by surprise by this “disastrous deal” — will be fighting against it.
Dr. Nancy ended the interview by pointing out that Bart Stupak and Henry Hyde (author of the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment) are “both white men telling women about reproduction.”
