Amy’s post on Ben Nelson’s unwillingness to compromise on abortion below reminds us of a central fact: while the left blogosphere and interest groups like the Dean Family Fundraisers have been behaving foolishly these past few days, not a single liberal Senator–with the possible exception of the Senator from Blagojevich, Roland Burris–has tried to scuttle this bill. Meanwhile immoderate “moderates” like Nelson and Lieberman have been holding their votes hostage for reasons of extreme ideology, personal pique and showboat narcissism. If Ben Nelson scuttles this bill merely because he wants more extreme anti-abortion language than currently exists–the Hyde Amendment forbids the use of federal funds for abortions, which is more than enough, thank you–then his “pro-life” position somehow neglects the millions of people, already born, whose lives are in danger because they have no access to preventative and chronic care.
Paging the women from Maine.