Bart Stupak: Did it Really Have to End This Way?

Bart Stupak becomes the first casualty of the health care bill being pushed through against the will of the American people. He announced yesterday that he does not plan to run again this year. The Washington Times says:

After selling out, Rep. Bart Stupak is walking out. The Michigan Democrat who tried to pass himself off as pro-life announced Friday that he no longer seeks re-election. It's understandable that Mr. Stupak is unwilling to face voters in his working-class Upper Peninsula district after casting a decisive vote in favor of a nationalized health care plan that would allow, with the stroke of the president's pen, millions of abortions at public expense.

Kathryn Jean Lopez has some interesting comments at National Review Online:

It has seemed obvious to me since last year that Stupak would retire. The tragic thing is that he could have been an inspiring leader, a man who stood up on principle to the most prominent politicians of the day, of his own party. Instead, we know what he did — he surrendered all the power he had for a meaningless executive order, bowing at the altar of a party that long ago sold its soul to the culture of death he claimed to be standing athwart, to boot.

The upside of Bart Stupak proving to be such a cheap date is that his decision to stand down made the facts starkly clear for all the country to see. With his speech on the House floor providing extra cover to Democrats who had been lying all along about what was in the bill — why exactly does one need an executive order if the legislation never had anything to do with abortion? — Bart Stupak wrote the obituary for the very concept of the pro-life Democrat (my condolences to Dan Lipinski, who seems to truly want to be one in a party that doesn't respect that).

Bart Stupak could have made the Democratic party better. He could have made them realize pro-lifers in their party were a real force to be reckoned with. Instead he drove a nail in the coffin that holds the late Governor Casey's words from a speech at Notre Dame in 1995. “It was sold to America, this idea [of legal abortion], as a kind of social cure, a resolution,” Casey said. “Instead, it has left us wounded and divided. We were promised it would broaden the circle of freedom. Instead, it has narrowed the circle of humanity. We were told the whole matter was settled and would soon pass from our minds. Twenty years later, it tears at our souls. And so, it is for me the bitterest of ironies that abortion on demand found refuge, found a home — and it pains me to say this — found a home in the national Democratic party. My party, the party of the weak, the party of the powerless.”

The Democratic party is the party that embraces the culture of death — now more "comprehensively" than ever.

Jill Stanek comments on the corner into which Stupak painted himself:

When it comes down to it, Bart Stupak retired today because his pro-abort House leaders and president wouldn't let him and his pro-life band vote their consciences....

To be sure, the 20 Dem pro-life turncoats are to blame for their own votes, but clearly their leaders badgered, pressured, and hounded them until they broke.

There was no way for the Stu-PAC to win, politically. Had the bloc caused the healthcare bill to fail, there would have been hell to pay from the power brokers. Now there is hell to pay from us.

For a brief moment there everybody thought that Stupak meant exactly what he said and that he would block the health care bill unless his amendment preventing public funds from being used for abortion. When it came to the crunch he could have stood his ground and blocked it until the President and Nancy Pelosi caved. He could have done it, but he chose to cave in and let them have their way. What an ignominious end to a career.