One could argue that Martha Coakley, the would-be Democratic Senator from Massachusetts who lost a January special election to Sen. Scott Brown largely over anxiety around health reform, was the bill’s first victim. But today, we learned of the first Member of Congress who will not be back in 2011 specifically because of the health reform experience. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) announced this morning that he would not seek reelection in November. His reasons were personal, not political. It was widely expected that he could win reelection in his Northern Michigan district, which he’s represented for nearly two decades. Plainly, the experience of being pilloried by both the left and the right – not to mention the threats of violence by radicals – over his stand on health reform’s abortion language pushed him to retire.
Mr. Stupak drove pro-choice Democrats crazy over his insistence on changes to the language around prohibiting federal funds for being used to purchase abortion coverage in health reform. In the process, he became the darling of pro-life Republicans who saw him and his bloc of likeminded Democrats as a key strategy to bringing down health reform. What conservatives (and some liberals) failed to remember is that Mr. Stupak is, despite his position on abortion, a distinctly left-of-center voice who very much believes in the cause of universal coverage. When given the opportunity to support reform, he took it and helped ensure the eventual passage of the House bill back in November and the final law in March.
For NAPH and safety net hospitals, the loss of Mr. Stupak’s voice is a difficult one. He has long been a supporter of the 340B drug discount program and as a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has championed the extension of those discounts to the inpatient setting.
My personal experience with Mr. Stupak has been limited, but having seen him many times in action in hearings and bill mark-ups in the Energy and Commerce Committee - including as Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight - he always came across as a principled, thoughtful legislator whose views were taken seriously by Democrats and Republicans alike. It is unfortunate when lawmakers like this no longer feel comfortable in the overly-negative, hyperpartisan halls of Congress.