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Friday, March 12, 2010

Pelosi to Maddow: Republicans hijacking Rep. Stupak's abortion concerns to stop health care reform bill

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC's political analyst and investigative reporter Rachel Maddow that the Senate health care reform bill does not allow federal funding for abortion, despite claims by U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) that it does.

In a video clip from Maddow's March 11 interview, Pelosi said, "There is no federal funding for abortion in the legislation. It is the law of the land that we are prohibited from spending federal funds on abortion, and that is consistent in this bill."

Pelosi added the Senate bill also contains no change in the status of a woman's right to choose.

"This bill is not about abortion," Pelosi told Maddow. "This is about health care for all Americans, and those who want the bill to fail hijack the concerns of others who have concerns about federal funding of abortion."

Expressing her respect for Congressman Stupak, and stating that Stupak "wants health care reform," Pelosi indicated Republicans -- not other Democrats -- in the House are trying to hijack Stupak's concerns in order to make the bill fail.

Click here to see the video clip from the March 11 Rachel Maddow Show.

On Wednesday, March 10, Maddow interviewed filmmaker Michael Moore, a Michigan constituent of Bart Stupak's, on the subject of Stupak's criticism of the Senate bill and discussed Moore's latest documentary film, Capitalism: A Love Story. Click here for a video clip of that interview.

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