If you've listened to the media surrounding Senator Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) vote in the Finance Committee on health care reform, you could easily come to the wrong conclusion that this is a new sign of bipartisanship in the debate. Unfortunately, that's only because the media has chosen to ignore the valiant efforts of dozens of pro-life Democrats in the House who have worked with likeminded Republicans to try to ensure that the overhaul doesn't fund abortions. In the five committees discussing health care reform, a total of sixteen amendments were offered to separate abortion from health care. Many of these amendments were supported--and even sponsored--by Democrats like Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), only to be opposed by the Democratic leadership. Yet the media has been largely silent on this strong showing of bipartisanship in opposing taxpayer-funded abortions.Interestingly enough, these are the same reporters that highlighted the comments from former GOP lawmakers in favor of the Democrat's health care plan. But, as reporter Tim Carney from The Examiner points out (and the mainstream media chooses to ignore), those former legislators, including Tommy Thompson, Bob Dole, and Bill Frist, lobby for health care special interests and stand to personally profit from a government takeover of health care. There has been true bipartisanship from the very beginning of this debate as more leaders unite to exclude abortion from health care.
