Will Perriello keep pledge on abortion
Published: November 8, 2009
In Ruckersville back in early August, I attended one of the first of the summer recess town hall meetings Rep. Tom Perriello held in the Fifth District. At that meeting he was asked if he would support a nationalized health care bill that provided federal funding for abortion. He emphatically said, “No.”
Will Mr. Perriello stand by his promise or will he cave under pressure from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee, President Obama’s henchmen, et al. to vote for the House bill being offered — a bill the Wall Street Journal calls “The Worst Bill Ever”? Do his promises to his constituents matter to him?
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Reader Reactions
Foehammer:
i assume you are making some sort of crude, pointless, personal attack; but could you please elaborate, because i don’t get it.
Tom having scottsville post as his mother…brillant Tom!!
The Stupak amendment goes much further than banning federal funding for abortion. It also bans the inclusion of any abortion in a PRIVATE policy that is part of the exchange system. It is one thing to bar the use of public funds, and quite another to ban a private indivual from purchasing coverage for a medical procedure. This was not what Perriello agreed to do.
He clearly kept his promise. He voted for the Stupak amendment, as noted by the previous comment. Much as the GOP would love to make abortion the issue, the Democratic House leadership has taken that issue away.
The letter itself shows some ignorance of the actual legislation. To characterize either the House bill or Senate bill as “nationalized of health care” is silly. Doctors, clinics, hospitals, and all other health care facilities will remain in private hands. Private insurance will still be the backbone of the system.
I can only assume that the writer either doesn’t understand the term or doesn’t know what’s in the legislation.
Perriello kept his anti-abortion promise and voted for the Stupak amendment, which will limit health care coverage that women currently have now. I do not agree with changing current law and the status quo to further limit women’s choice, but I respect Tom Perriello for keeping his promise and sticking to his principals.
I am also glad that he fought for making health care deficit neutral and stood up for our rural hospitals. I am glad we have one of the few representatives that does not have a mindset of “‘no’ to everything” or “‘yes’ to everything”. Even when I don’t agree with him, I can see that he is a thoughtful and principled man.
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