E.J. Dionne on Abortion & Health Care Reform

E.J. Dionne writes a pretty good column: Don’t Let Abortion Destroy Health Care Reform :

From the outraged comments of the abortion rights movement, you’d think that Rep. Bart Stupak’s amendment to the House version of the health care bill would all but overturn Roe v. Wade. No, it wouldn’t . . . . What happens now? Democratic supporters of abortion rights need to accept that their House majority depends on a large cadre of anti-abortion colleagues. They can denounce that reality, or they can learn to live with it.

There are knee-jerk element in it, all reflecting Dionne’s belief that no one of any morality could possibly oppose the reforms: “There is also a challenge for abortion’s foes, above all the Catholic bishops who have a long history of supporting universal coverage but devoted most of their recent energy to the abortion battle. How much muscle will the bishops now put behind the broader effort to pass health care reform? Their credibility as advocates for social justice hangs in the balance.”

But E.J. Dionne is at least right that if we must have the reform, the Stupak amendment is the only way to make it palatable.