Almost lost amid the public fanfare over the House of Representatives approving the health care reform bill was a huge compromise House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on the issue of abortion. Pelosi, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, risked losing votes from conservative members of her own party unless she agreed to the Stupak Amendment (authored by Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan) which will ban coverage for abortions under any government-run plan and any private health insurance purchased using federal subsidies. Pelosi reluctantly caved and allowed the amendment to be a part of the final bill, but in the process, angered many of her liberal colleagues. “If enacted, this amendment will be the greatest restriction of a woman’s right to choose to pass in our careers,” Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) told The New York Times. Both sides in the debate credited the last-minute change to intense lobbying by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.