Last week was an intense week on the Hill. There were protests-a-plenty. Lawmakers at odds. Demonstrators from both sides of the health care debate were arrested in Lieberman’s and Pelosi’s offices. So much of the tension, fear and angst came to a rolling boil in just the last 48 hours.

A long Saturday session in the House ended late last night with three pivotal votes.

The first was to amend the House health care bill with a bi-partisan proposal from Stupak and Pitts. The second was to consider the Republican alternative health care bill which failed as votes split right down party lines. The third was to pass the Democrat’s health care bill HR-3962 (known as PelosiCare).

All things considered, the Stupak/Pitts Amendment was the one we were waiting for that bans federal funding of abortion. Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, had proudly endorsed HR-3962 in the days prior and bragged publicly for mobilizing 18,000 phone calls to legislators and successfully blocking or defeating every pro-life amendment thus far. It was reported that Democratic leaders in a closed door meeting late Friday night were forced to compromise on “the abortion issue” in a last ditch effort to save their government takeover of health care. The Stupak/Pitts Amendment PASSED 240-194 splitting the Democrats and claiming 64 of them for the pro-life move.

Today, Cecile Richards has bitterly withdrawn her endorsement of HR-3962 because the truth is that Planned Parenthood is more interested in the lucrative business of abortion than in the “other” health services they claim make up the majority of their business. I think recent Planned Parenthood Director Defector, Abby Johnson, exposes the truth and worst side of this organization. She said when the economy took a downturn and business suffered, she was charged by her superiors to “get more abortions in the door.” That’s where the money is after all, and that’s why Richards was so into the Dems health care bill prior to the abortion amendment. It would have represented the largest expansion of the abortion industry since Roe v. Wade, and the darling PP would have been elevated to “essential health care” status.

The fight continues now and moves back to the Senate. Harry Reid stated last night that he’s eager to get going. The Senate version currently has no pro-life amendment in place even though many were attempted while it was in committee.

It’s gonna be really intense on the Hill between now and Christmas.