Finding "common ground" - on trashing women's rights

It looks like the Democrats are going to be able to pass a solid health care reform through the House, i.e., one that includes a meaningful public option.

But also one that throws women's right to choose out the window. As Jane Hamsher writes in NARAL and Planned Parenthood: Ineffectiveness Anti-Choice Democrats Can Rely On Huffington Post 11/07/09:

Democrats in Congress have just proudly signed a deal with the Catholic bishops which allows a bunch of old men who have spent the better part of the last century avoiding their own sexual issues to dictate access to abortion services in the House health care bill.

This is what comes of decades of mealy-mouthing on Democratic principles, including the rights of women and the rights of poor people. The Stupak Amendment would block private insurance plans participating in the insurance exchanges that are key to health care reform from covering most abortions.

I hope the Progressive Caucus votes it down because of this. Force Stupak and the anti-choice Blue Dog Democrats Blue Dogs to face killing health care reform in order to trash women's basic rights.

It's disgraceful that the large Democratic majority let this amendment go through.

But this is a success for the "common ground" theocrats who wanted anti-abortionists and the pro-choice majority to find common ground on issues to cooperate on. They've gotten on the only one that was ever an option for them: the "common ground" of working to wipe out women's right to choose on abortion.

"Liberal" Frank Rich may call them "Stalinists" for doing so. But the Republicans are willing to mount primary challenges against Republicans they think are insufficiently conservative. It's long past time the Democrats make a habit of mounting primary challenges at least against Democrats who won't defend the basic principles of the Party.

Tags: abortion, health care reform