When Republicans Attack Reproductive Rights, Dan Lipinski and Henry Cuellar Ask How to Help.
Last week (as I noted), the House voted for a spending bill for the Defense, Education, and State Departments, along with other federal agencies, together totaling about 75 percent of the federal budget.
In the lead-up to passing this, the House voted on more than 100 amendments across a wide array of topics. Many of them were uncontroversial (and modest) funding increases that even a decent number of Republicans supported.
I will leave it to someone else to analyze the divides among the Republican caucus revealed by these amendment votes. For now, let’s talk about the Democratic caucus.
In January 2019, the US House became majority pro-choice for the first time in history. This is a striking change from ten years ago, when intra-party divisions on abortion were a main part of the debate around the Affordable Care Act.
However, with the wipe-out of the Blue Dog Caucus in 2010 and 2012, and the geographical and ideological sorting that has happened since, the Democratic Party is almost unanimously supportive of reproductive rights.
I said “almost.”
Two votes demonstrated the need for that qualifier.
Tom Cole (OK-04) offered an amendment to strike the language of the bill that blocks a recent rule from the Trump administration that allows health care workers to deny people medical care because of professed religious beliefs.
As Barbara Lee (CA-13) noted on the House floor, “This rule could mean that rape survivors, same-sex couples, women with unintended pregnancies, those seeking life-saving abortions and transgender patients could all be refused medical care.”
It failed 192 to 230, but Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Dan Lipinski (IL-03), and Ben McAdams (UT-04) joined Republicans in voting yes.
Martha Roby (AL-02) offered an amendment to strike the language blocking Trump’s rule banning health providers receiving Title X funding from making abortion referrals and force abortion providers to physically and financially separate abortion services from family planning services to receive the funding.
It failed 191 to 231. Cuellar, Lipinski, and Collin Peterson (MN-07) voted with Republicans.
McAdams and Peterson do have conservative districts (Clinton won only around 30% of the vote in the 2016 general election). Cuellar and Lipinski, however, do not. Democratic presidential candidates win Cuellar’s district by about 20 points; Lipinski’s, about 15.
If Cuellar and Lipinski aren’t representing their constituents well, maybe their constituents should start looking elsewhere.
