But not to the will of the people.

The United States Senate succumbed tonight to pressure
from the abortion lobby and voted 54-45 for the largest expansion of
abortion since Roe v. Wade, said Brian Burch, President of
CatholicVoteAction.org
 
Despite the valiant leadership of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the
Democratic-controlled Senate rejected a common sense proposal designed
to keep abortion funds out of the the government run health care
legislation.
 
“Americans firmly believe that abortion is not healthcare. Citizens of
every state and political party petitioned their Senators with emails
and phone calls to make sure that any reform bill would not include
taxpayer support for abortion. The United States Senate ignored the
will of the people and instead forged ahead with a pro-abortion
healthcare bill that will now face even weaker public support,” said
Burch.
 
“Senator Nelson showed true leadership this week, but today’s vote
proved just how hard it is to be a pro-life Democrat in the United
States Senate. Nelson’s fellow Democrats, including many Catholics,
bowed to the pressure of the abortion lobby and approved this massive
taxpayer handout to Planned Parenthood and the billion-dollar abortion
industry.”

“Catholic voters who may have disagreed on whether this legislation
was a good idea to begin with have no choice but to collectively oppose
this health care bill.”

Michigan Democratic Representative Bart Stupak still hopes the protections his amendment in the House bill will find their way
into the final version of health care legislation, once the smoke
settles.

While many accusations have been thrown around in recent
months, the intent behind our amendment is simple and clear: to
continue current law, which says that there should be no federal
financing of abortions. Our intent was not to change, add or take
anything away from federal law. This goal is consistent with the
opinion of a majority of Americans. Recent CNN and Washington Post-ABC
News polls found that 61 percent of Americans do not want taxpayer
dollars to pay for abortions. And while the Senate voted down a similar
amendment on Tuesday, I’m hopeful that the spirit of our legislation
will make it into the final bill.

I encourage other members of Congress to listen to the American
people and the majority of House members who have made it very clear:
We do not want taxpayer dollars financing abortion.