Breaking: Stupak voting yes?; Update: Or is he? Update: CNN says Stupak told them he’s still a No; Update: ABC confirms still No … “for now”

And thus does the Republican final hope for blocking ObamaCare finally collapse, if this turns out to be true.  One can’t call this a defection by Bart Stupak, since he’s a Democrat now apparently committing to support for a key Democratic agenda item.  It’s certainly a betrayal of his oft-proclaimed pro-life principles, however.  So far, the news has been reported by MS-NBC on its broadcast and website (as a banner headline) as “sources say,” and reported similarly by C-SPAN, but as of this moment, no written report has surfaced with any details.

This could be a false report, but it’s been no secret for the last few days that Stupak has worked hard to find a way to vote for this bill.  We’ll see if the promise of an executive order from Barack Obama did the trick.

Update, 1:16 pm ET: Suddenly, that banner has been removed from MS-NBC’s website without any explanation — and I still haven’t seen a written report anywhere about it.  Hmmmm.

Update II: Politico reports that Stupak has flipped to yes, according to “senior Democratic aides.”  Looks like the same sourcing that MS-NBC had.

Update III, 1:22 pm ET: CNN says he’s still a No, but that may be older information.  Still looking for any substantive reporting based on something other than the MS-NBC sourcing.

Update IV, 1:25 pm ET: The Hill reports this as coming solely from MS-NBC:

House Democratic leaders are struggling to gain the 216 votes they need to win a healthcare vote on Sunday.

House Democratic leaders struggling to gain the 216 votes they need to win a healthcare vote earned two more crucial supporters on Sunday.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) announced she’d support the bill, saying she was convinced it would prevent federal funds from being used for abortion services.

Separately, MSNBC reported that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) would vote for the bill.

I suspect that Stupak will eventually find an excuse to vote for the bill, probably by accepting the promise of an EO in some form.  But he may not yet have done so.  We’ll keep an eye on it.

Update V: CNN reports that Stupak told them directly that he’s still a No.

Update VI: Major Garrett reports from Capitol Hill on Twitter:

Stupak spox 2 me on abortion/EO deal: “No…there is not yet a deal & he is still a NO vote right now.” Note: “right now”

Yes, be sure to note that well.  Brian Baird (WA) is now reported to have committed to voting Yes, but he’s on the progressive wing of the party.
More to come ….

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