For the pro-life camp, it was bad enough when pro-life congressman Bart Stupak caved to Democrats and voted for President Obama's health care bill without the so-called Stupak Amendment attached. Today, the cries of "Judas!" are ringing louder as the Michigan Democrat accepts a position at Venable LLP, a lobbying firm whose client list includes Planned Parenthood of Maryland. While it's not likely that Stupak will directly represent Planned Parenthood, his association with the group feels like a further twist of the knife.
"If you haven’t scratched Stupak off your list, you should do it now," writes John Hayward at Human Events. "Stupak has joined high-powered lobbying firm Venable LLP… and one of their clients is Planned Parenthood." Steven Ertelt at Life News called Stupak the "architect of the sellout of Obamacare" who allowed for "abortion funding loopholes." Debra Moore at Exposing Liberal Lies came down even harder. "Has this man no shame? A true opponent of abortion would mop floors or clean toilets before working for a company which associates with an abortion mill like Planned Parenthood." Meanwhile, Doug Powers at The Powers That Be goes ad hominem. "You can take the pro-lifer out of the weasel lawyer, but you can’t take the weasel lawyer out of the pro-lifer."
Exactly what services Venable performs for Planned Parenthood of Maryland is somewhat unclear. The Maryland branch is not a federally registered lobbying client of Venable but a spokesman for Venable wouldn't comment to Roll Call if the firm performed any lobbying for Planned Parenthood at the state level in Annapolis.
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