Last night, there was a report that Speaker Pelosi had called an impromptu meeting at 10 a.m. this morning with all women in the Democratic caucus.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking all female Democratic Members to attend a hastily called meeting Wednesday morning but isn't saying what the meeting is about.
Pelosi's office sent an e-mail out Tuesday evening requesting that all female Democrats come to the Members-only meeting at 10 a.m.
An aide to one Democratic Member said Pelosi's office said the topic of the meeting was "to be determined."
That certainly sounded ominous. The vote count is now at 208-208 according to DDay, and 13 of the final 15 "undecided" members supported the Stuapk amendment. Here are the final 15:
Lincoln Davis, Jim Matheson, Harry Teague, Travis Childers, John Barrow, Zack Space, Chris Carney, Brad Ellsworth, Jerry Costello, Henry Cuellar, Nick Rahall, Solomon Ortiz, Earl Pomeroy, Bill Foster, Harry Mitchell.
Of this group, only Bill Foster and Harry Mitchell opposed Stupak, and they are probably the easiest votes to get anyway. Given this, was Speaker Pelosi preparing for a final cave to Stupak in order to get the remaining six votes?
Fortunately, the answer is no. An aide to the leadership has confirmed to me that the following Roll Call story about the meeting is accurate. Speaker Pelosi is meeting with everyone, and in the specifici meeting with the women in the Democratic caucus this morning, and reproductive rights were not discussed:
Abortion provisions in the health care bill were not discussed during a hastily called Wednesday morning meeting between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and female Democratic Members. Instead, Pelosi ran through talking points on how health care reform benefits women, according to lawmakers who attended the meeting.
On this front, it is also worth noting that Catholic nuns have broken with the bishops and called for the passage of the health reform bill. Ha!
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