Stupak: Why I Voted Yes; Parker: Why He's Wrong

Bart Stupak and Kathleen Parker take the fight over abortion funding to the op-ed pages of the Washington Post today.

• In his column, Stupak takes exception to Parker calling him a "backstabber" in a previous column and insists that President Obama's executive order is an "ironclad" guarantee that no federal funds will pay for abortions. "I have said from the start that my goal was to see health-care reform pass while maintaining the long-standing principle of the sanctity of life." This deal got exactly that.

• Not so, says Parker in her column. An executive order is inherently weak, and the Hyde Amendment leaves way too much wiggle room. "Prediction: Abortions will be performed at community health centers. You can bet your foreclosed mortgage on that. There was always a will by this administration, and now there's a way."

(More Bart Stupak stories.)