More than anything, Bart Stupak running to local radio and telling them that Henry Waxman wants to fund abortions is a pretty sure sign that he’s completely outmatched on the issue and will now resort to scare tactics.

In an interview with Marquette, Mich., radio station WKQS’ Mark & Walk morning show, Stupak described what he said was a conversation with Waxman about the Senate’s version of the health care overhaul. That bill contains weaker language than the House-passed legislation, which includes a provision crafted by Stupak to ensure insurance companies that participate in a national exchange don’t use federal money for abortion services.

“I gave him the language. He came back a little while later and said, ‘But we want to pay for abortions.’ I said, ‘Mr. Chairman, that’s — we disagree. We don’t do it now, we’re not going to start.’

“‘But we think should,’” Stupak said Waxman told him.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry but the House has spoken. We had that debate. We won 240-190. You forced the vote, a vote we won fair and square and we’re not gonna, this is what it is. If you want to move health care keep current law,’” Stupak continued.

It’s really not a secret that liberals want to get rid of the Hyde Amendment. But Stupak is framing it in a certain way for a certain audience – which consists mostly of right-wing radio and news publications. He’s been interviewed by the Weekly Standard and the National Review just this week.

Stupak’s cadres in the anti-choice movement have recently taken to claiming that community health centers would be allowed to perform abortions, under this bill. Community health centers are in line for at least $10 billion and possibly $11.5 billion in new funding to serve millions more low-income families for primary care.

This is a completely bogus issue, and it’s revealing that it’s been pushed by anti-choice Democrats in recent days.

The Senate version of the health care reform bill “allows taxpayer money to pay directly for abortion in federal community health centers funded in the bill.”

U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., in a Jan. 22 press release

The ruling

Never in their 45 years have community health centers provided abortions. They did not even before the Hyde Amendment was enacted. They have not even when they got $500,000 from the economic stimulus to expand their services. They have not even though federal funding limited by the Hyde Amendment makes up just 20 percent of their annual budget now. Given all that and public pronouncements from the White House, the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the National Association of Community Health Centers that the money could not be used to provide abortions, we think it’s highly misleading to state definitively that if the Senate bill passes, then federal dollars will start flowing to community health centers to provide abortions. We rule Lipinski’s statement Barely True.

What’s notable is that Stupak has become toxic even in areas where you would think Democrats would find him helpful. Rob Miller, running against Joe “You Lie” Wilson in a red-leaning district in South Carolina, announced he would have opposed the Stupak amendment on the House floor in a campaign stop. That’s really unusual, at least to me.

The Nelson amendment in the bill is no picnic, but I don’t think decreasing the relevance of anti-choice zealots within the party is a bad thing.