Wallstreet Journal

By Janet Adamy

Rep. Bart Stupak doesn’t plan to vote for Congress’s latest health overhaul package – and abortion isn’t the only reason why.

The Michigan Democrat became a pivotal player in the health debate last fall when he threatened to sink the bill because it didn’t exclude insurance coverage of abortion from government-subsidized health plans. In recent days, he’s reiterated that he objects to the Senate’s more-lenient treatment of abortion coverage that would almost certainly be part of any final health legislation.

In an interview today, Stupak said abortion isn’t the only issue that will keep him from voting for the Senate bill if Speaker Nancy Pelosi brings it to the House floor. “It’d be very hard to vote for this bill even if they fixed the abortion language,” he said. Asked whether there was any way he would vote for the current package, he had one word: “Nope.”

Stupak said the White House hasn’t included enough provisions from the House bill in its proposed package of changes to the Senate version. He cited some of the House’s tighter restrictions on insurance companies and new payment methods to encourage doctors to provide quality treatment that he thinks should be in the bill. And even though the White House peeled back the tax on high-value insurance plans, he’s upset that it’s still in there at all.

A big concern among House members, Stupak said, is that they will be forced to vote on the Senate bill with no assurance the package of changes aimed at appeasing House members will ever get approved.

“You’re going to make members vote for a bill that’s going to be hung around your neck come Election Day,” he said. “After sending so much legislation to the Senate, we just don’t trust that they’re going to do it.”

Asked whether he had enough antiabortion Democrats to block the bill, Stupak said he hasn’t “whipped” –or counted — the votes since Pelosi has yet to put forward a formal health package. But regardless of how that group votes, he doesn’t think the legislation will pass. “I’m not optimistic they’d get the votes in the House,” he said.