On February 28, 2006 during the 109^th Congress, fifty-five Democrat members of the House of Representatives signed a document entitled “House Democrats Release Historic Catholic Statement of Principles”  (http://www.votesmart.org/speech_detail.php?sc_id=34128&keyword=abortion&phrase=&contain).  In part, this document contained the following language:

“We envision a world in which every child belongs to a loving family and agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life and the undesirability of abortion-we do not celebrate its practice. Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term. We believe this includes promoting alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, and improving access to children’s healthcare and child care, as well as policies that encourage paternal and maternal responsibility.”

Minnesotans who signed this Statement of Principles were Jim Oberstar (MN-8) and Betty McCollum (MN-4).

On November 7, 2009 during the 111^th Congress, 194 Democrat House members voted against the Stupak-Pitts amendment to H.R. 3692, an amendment that prohibited abortion funding by the public health care option and through affordability credits which would be given to consumers to pay for health care plans that fund abortions (http://www.lifenews.com/nat5629.html).  A vote against the Stupak-Pitts amendment was a vote for taxpayer-paid abortion.

Rep. Bart Stupak and 16 of his fellow Democrat House members signed the Statement of Principles and voted for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.  These included Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota.

Seventeen Democrat House members who signed the Statement of Principles voted against the Stupak-Pitts amendment and for taxpayer-paid abortion.  These included Rep. Betty McCollum and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment prohibiting taxpayer-paid abortion passed the House by 240 to 194 votes (http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll884.xml).

During the 2010 election, which Betty will be campaigning?  The 2006 pro-life Betty or the 2009 pro-abortion Betty?