Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak arguably saved health-care reform, agreeing to sign on to the bill and defend his decision on the House floor, in the face of jeers from Republican opponents and a heckler who seemed to have called him "baby killer."
In saving reform, Stupak looks to have put his House seat in serious jeopardy. The Family Research Council, a strong anti-abortion-rights group, came out moments ago with the news that it's gunning for his seat. From the FRC, which calls out Stupak by name in its plan to unseat abortion-rights opponents who voted for the bill:
FRC Action will seek to defeat many of the Members from majority pro-life districts who voted wrong today, and they will have plenty of free time to realize the grave mistake they have committed on the unborn today with their vote.
This comes on the heels of the announcement by Connie Saltonstall, a county commissioner who supports abortion rights, to challenge Stupak in the upcoming race. She comes with an endorsement of the National Organization for Women.
In the course of one day, Stupak has gotten slammed by National Right to Life and the National Abortion Rights Action League, by NOW and the Susan B. Anthony List (it retracted a "Defender of Life" award it had planned to give the congressman on Wednesday). It takes a rare politician to unite NOW and the Family Research Council, but in Stupak, it seems, they have found their common foe.
Uncommon Knowledge
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