Despite Bart Stupak’s July letter announcing his (and eighteen co-signers’) intent to submit an amendment to health care reform further restricting American women’s reproductive rights, Village insider Ellen Malcolm waited until TODAY to sound the alarm, while list-building and fundraising on a purported petition to Harry Reid to "Stop Stupak." Bart Stupak bragged about "taking down the rule" back in July, regarding another bill but also about abortion. Liberal outlets support the "eleventh-hour" framing of Stupak-Pitts so convenient to Veal Pen occupants.

Ellen Malcolm’s cynical email amounts to political malpractice: writing to EMILY’s List large list, asking for money and petition-signing to Harry Reid, when everyone who understands Capitol Hill knows the time to start fighting Stupak-Pitts was when it was announced in July, not now after it has passed the House and can only be stopped in the Senate. "We’ll fix it in conference" is a fools errand for progressives.

And Ellen Malcolm, as head of a long-time Washington institution, should know this.

But three-alarm fundraising and list-building can only be accomplished when women’s rights have actually been put on the chopping block. It wouldn’t suit EMILY’s list, or any other women’s rights Veal Pen denizens, to try to actually stop Stupak back when it mattered and could be headed off completely — much better for any organization’s visibility to let the issue come to a full boil.

Here’s Ms Malcolm’s email today:

Women’s rights are on the line, and we need your help. Right. Now.

I believe you and I have something in common: Last year, we both worked to elect progressive women candidates dedicated to making change. And now, their work in Washington is under attack.

When the House passed the health care reform bill, the legislation included the Stupak/Pitts Amendment, which would deny millions of women access to safe, affordable reproductive health care. It would prohibit millions of women from getting coverage for abortion in their health insurance, even if they pay for it themselves!

This amendment goes further than any previous federal law to restrict access to abortion — and flies in the face of an important principle of health care reform: that no one would lose benefits they already have.

EMILY’s List helped elect pro-choice Democratic women who are working to ensure this amendment does not pass. But our women in Congress need our support to make that happen.

Every single one of us needs to speak out in opposition to this amendment — and, with deals being cut left and right in the Senate right now, we must act immediately.

Add your name to the petition at STOPSTUPAK.com today and tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the Senate bill must not include new restrictions on a woman’s ability to get coverage for abortion in her insurance plan.

The health care bill would make significant progress for women — ending gender inequalities in health care costs, halting discriminatory practices such as treating domestic violence as a "pre-existing condition," and making coverage more affordable for American families. That’s why it’s so crucial this bill not include a provision that would set women back.

Every EMILY’s List woman in the House voted against the Stupak/Pitts Amendment. And we know our candidates in the Senate will also fight tooth and nail to prevent this new restriction on women’s rights. They are the firewall against any new restrictions on a woman’s right to choose, but they need our voices to join with theirs if we are going to win this battle.

Sign the petition today and send a message loud and clear to Congress: this amendment must be removed before this legislation is enacted into law.

Sign the petition at STOPSTUPAK.com right now to take action against this dangerous restriction on women’s reproductive rights.

There’s no point in passing a health care reform bill that makes women less healthy, less safe and less able to exercise their constitutional rights — and that’s why we must join together today to prevent that from happening.

Warmest regards,
Ellen Malcolm

Ellen R. Malcolm

President

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Here’s my response (since this seemed like such a newly arrived EMERGENCY to Ms Malcolm, I used ALL CAPS and lotsa punctuation!!!):

WHY DIDN’T YOU START THIS EFFORT BACK IN JULY WHEN STUPAK ANNOUNCED HIS INTENT???

WAITING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE — AFTER THE HOUSE HAS ALREADY PASSED THIS ABOMINATION — IS POLITICAL MALPRACTICE, UNLESS YOU INTENDED ALL ALONG TO USE HIS AMENDMENT AS A FUNDRAISING VEHICLE FOR YOURSELVES!!!

SHAME ON YOU FOR BEING IN DEECEE AND PRETENDING NOT TO KNOW HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED!!!

YOU SHOULD RESIGN.