Pro-lifers are furious at Stupak, especially since the vote margin makes it clear that it was in the power of a small group of pro-life Democrats to block this bill. But pro-choice Democrats should be deeply annoyed that he wasted their time and gave them heartburn for no purpose.

It is hard to imagine the pro-life movement making major policy gains without significant representation in both political parties. But the vote suggested that in races where pro-life candidates from both parties are squaring off, pro-lifers should have a bias toward the Republicans. Pro-life Republicans are almost never under pressure from their leaders to abandon their convictions. Even Sen. Scott Brown ended up being a more reliable ally for pro-lifers than Stupak did.

I would rather that pro-lifers had not been placed in this position for all sorts of reasons, but I do think the abortion-funding policy can be reversed. If Republicans are going to have any Contract with America-style list of promises this fall, one of them should be to fight to make the Hyde amendment permanent law and apply it more broadly–as the editors suggest.