Last week, the debate over the Democratic health reform effort took
a brief and unexpected philosophical turn. Bart Stupak, a pro-labor
Catholic Democrat representing Michigan's 1st congressional district,
managed to pass the Stupak amendment as part of the House health bill.
Sensing that an insurrection among anti-abortion Democrats threatened
to derail the legislation, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,
who ardently opposes restrictions on abortion, allowed Stupak to offer
the amendment, and it passed by a wide margin thanks to Republican
votes.