I got a call last night from a friend in Washington, DC who had heard that we might have a last minute chance to convince Senator Olympia Snowe to be the 60th vote on healthcare reform, and that she might negotiate out both the Nelson and Stupak amendments.
"You can make a critical difference on abortion rights," argued my friend.
The ACLU of MAINE has been lobbying for months. Among other activities, Alysia Melnick led a busload of activists and clergy to Washington to meet with the Senator’s staff directly. Katy Jayne organized two clergy press conferences in December to call for healthcare reform that doesn't punish women.
In addition to the work of the ACLU of MAINE and our partners in the Maine Choice Coalition, others were trying to influence the Maine Senators in Washington. Senator Snowe met with President Obama for hours in December. She was on the telephone on a regular basis with Democratic Senate leadership. Frankly, Senator Snowe could have played the role Nelson played in healthcare reform last month, and we could be in a very different place on the issue of abortion than we are now.
There's blame enough to go around. Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate allowed this to happen. Representative Michael Michaud voted for the Stupak amendment. (To their credit, Senators Snowe, Susan Collins, and Representative Chellie Pingree all voted against the Stupak and Nelson amendments.) Now, some activists are blaming the pro-choice organizations for not doing enough.
But it's not a shortage of grassroots activism that is the problem. It's a lack of leadership.
I will do everything I can possibly do in these last days. I'll send another letter and another email. I will write a letter to the editor. I will call Senator Snowe's office at (202) 224-5344, and indeed our entire Congressional delegation. I hope you will do the same. Perhaps, her failure to lead is truly as my friend suggests because she doesn't feel supported in Maine to do that. So let's demonstrate our leadership on this issue. We can hope that she will demonstrate hers before it's too late.