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"He does his homework," said Jim McKimmy, the Democratic chairman in Antrim County, who pleaded with Stupak at a town hall meeting this week not to stand in the way of health care legislation. "He knows where the middle is and he knows how to represent his district." The region's views on abortion are mixed, despite the Catholic Church's strong presence. Stupak says his stand "reflects adequately" his constituency's mindset but is based on bedrock conviction, not political calculation. "I believe in the sanctity of life," he said this week while driving between public gatherings. "Because it may not be convenient, do you take a life? That's not the standard of a moral society." Nancy Douglas, a longtime friend and economic development director in Stupak's hometown of Menominee, said she wasn't surprised he would refuse to back down
-- even to the point of scuttling the health care overhaul. "It's very much in keeping with what I know of him," said Douglas, who supports abortion rights and has debated abortion with Stupak. "I respect that he is doing what he truly believes in." Critics accuse him of imposing his religious beliefs on the nation. "It is outrageous and un-American," said Mary Pollock of the National Organization for Women's Michigan chapter. For 10 years, Stupak was among a small group of conservative Christian lawmakers who rent rooms in a Washington, D.C., town house known as the "C Street Center." It drew attention last year because of sex scandals involving several current or former lawmakers with ties to the dwelling, including Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Stupak said he moved out in January "because of all the craziness going on about it" but insisted the building was nothing more than a boardinghouse where lawmakers gathered weekly to dine, pray and sometimes discuss personal or spiritual matters. It doesn't have any connection with Stupak's high-profile role on abortion and health care, he said. "There's no secret oath, no secret pledges, no secret agenda," Stupak said. "C Street has nothing to do with it. People say I'm doing this for the Catholic bishops; they have nothing to do with it. I've always been pro-life. If anything, I've been consistent."
[Associated
Press;
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