Day before health care vote, abortion again causing problems among Democrats

A series of staffers and White House officials, including Nancy Ann DeParle, head of the White House office of health reform, and Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, were in and out of Pelosi’s office late Friday.

The only lawmaker seen exiting Pelosi’s office was Rep. Mike Doyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is pro-life and voted for the Stupak amendment to the House bill in November, but has not been discussed as a likely no vote.

Three states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, account for seven of the nine remaining lawmakers who are thought to be most up for grabs among the Stupak bloc. These lawmakers are Paul Kanjorski, Tim Carney and Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania, Jerry Costello and Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, Steve Driehaus and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Allan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Zack Space of Florida.

There are four House Democrats who voted against the bill in November who are still undecided: Brian Baird of Washington, who is retiring, Glenn Nye and Rick Boucher of Virginia, and John Tanner of Tennessee.

Four previous no votes flipped to yes on Friday: John Boccieri of Ohio, Patrick Murphy of New York, and Allen Boyd and Suzanne Kosmas of Florida. There are seven no votes who have flipped to yes in all, including Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Betsy Markey of Colorado and Bart Gordon of Tennessee.

Along with the Stupak bloc, two other Democrats who voted for the bill the first time have said they will oppose it this time: Michael Arcuri of New York and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts.