Bart Stupak retiring: ‘tea party’ fight averted

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Comes word from Capitol Hill Friday morning that Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat who represents a broad swath of Northern Michigan, will retire at the end of his term.

Stupak, who had played a central role in the House’s passage of President Obama’s healthcare legislation, had demanded antiabortion language in the bill. Instead of that, he won an executive order from the president stating that nothing in the healthcare bill that Obama signed would override an existing ban on federal funding for abortions.

And with that Sunday day-of-passage concession from the White House, Stupak and fellow antiabortion Democrats signed onto the bill, which passed 219-212.

Stupak, first elected to Congress in 1992, was coming under fire from the TEA Party Express, labeling Stupak as ‘the man who sold our nation out on the healthcare vote.’’ The group this week touted a $250,000 fundraising commitment for its ‘Defeat Bart Stupak’ campaign and called on supporters to rally against Stupak in his district.

-- Mark Silva

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