In a recorded, and publicly available Q&A, Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl can be heard promising (at 52 min. of 60 min. full recording) to vote against abortion in the health care bill (Hear excerpted 2 minute portion on the abortion question in mp3 format or wma format). See Marquette's video of the evening.
On September 2, 2009 at Marquette University Law School's "On the Issues with Mike
Gousha," Kohl responded to a Marquette alumnus who asked him directly if he would vote against abortion in the health care bill, Kohl responded, "categorically yes".
Dan Zeidler, a 1969 Marquette grad and pro-life activist asked Senator Kohl: "I do not want health care to be used as a vehicle to expand abortion access. lt is very clear, very clear, that many in the congress want to do that, many from your party. Will you vote against any abortion mandates? Will you explicitly exclude them from any health care reform bill?"
Kohl responded: "I want to say, but it's complicated, but I want to say categorically yes. I agree with you. We should not be using health care reform to provide government access to abortion. I hear what you say. And I would hope that people from whatever party won't try and go down that road and put into a bill in the dead of night and then, lo and behold, wake up the next morning and something that shouldn't have happened did happen. We should not do that."
A very pleasant development indeed!
I don't believe it. Kohl is not a person who wants to go against the crowd of Democrats. He'll vote for it.
ReplyDeleteHe will TOTALLY vote for it.
ReplyDelete"I want to say"
"complicated"
"but I want to say"
That's the non-eloquent version of Obama-speak.
Kohl is a democrat.
ReplyDeleteHe will tell constituents anything he wants them to hear and vote the other way when he sits in his chair in Washington DC. It doesn't matter, the people in Wisconsin keep voting him back to DC. Look at Russell F., is anyone with a chance running against him in 2010?
Nelson (D-NE) amendment was defeated (Senate version of Stupak).
ReplyDeleteKohl did not vote for it, so it appears his stance was short-lived.
Curiously, both Republicans from Maine voted against the Nelson amendment. What's the matter with Maine?