Do you pray for Democrats? With the health care debate at a fever pitch, this would be a good week to do so. Some pro-life Democrats are under extreme pressure right now. From the National Review:
According to Stupak, that group of twelve pro-life House Democrats — the “Stupak dozen” — has privately agreed for months to vote ‘no ‘ on the Senate’s health-care bill if federal funding for abortion is included in the final legislative language. Now, in the debate’s final hours, Stupak says the other eleven are coming under “enormous” political pressure from both the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). “I am a definite ‘no ‘ vote,” he says. “I didn’t cave. The others are having both of their arms twisted, and we ‘re all getting pounded by our traditional Democratic supporters, like unions.”
[…]
What are Democratic leaders saying? “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing,” Stupak says. “Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue — come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we ‘re talking about.”
[…]
And the politics of the issue are pretty rough. “This has really reached an unhealthy stage,” Stupak says. “People are threatening ethics complaints on me. On the left, they ‘re really stepping it up. Every day, from Rachel Maddow to the Daily Kos, it keeps coming. Does it bother me? Sure. Does it change my position? No.”
This bill doesn’t change the legality of getting an abortion, but having federal funding for it means that millions more children will be murdered. And it means that you and I are paying it.
Some of the “Stupak dozen” have already caved in to the pressure. The stakes are high.
Why? Why didn’t I pray? I’m reading this after it has all happened. Stupak caved. His definite “no” died. His discernment utterly failed him. Why didn’t I pray?
Not that the fact that I prayed would have changed what happened; but nonetheless I should have prayed for him and I didn’t.
I really wish now I’d been reading your blog. Your iron would have sharpened mine.