By Carol Costello, CNN
(CNN) – Some conservatives have made pro-life Congressman Bart Stupak a verb.
Stu-packed. Definition? Betrayed. And, for some, that sense of betrayal has become visceral. Ever since the health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives, angry, and sometimes threatening calls, have been coming into Stupak’s office.
A sample: “You are a cowardly punk, Stupak. That’s what you are. You and your family, scum.” Another caller left this message: “Go to hell, you piece of ***t!”
Stupak has also received thousands of letters and faxes. One fax shows a picture of a noose, with the words, “All baby killers come to unseemly ends, either by the hand of man or the hand of God.”
The calls and letters kept coming as Stupak and other pro-life Democratic lawmakers gathered Wednesday to witness President Obama sign an executive order. An order, pro-life Democrats insist, confirms the ban on federal funding for abortions in the new health care law.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a pro-life Democrat from Ohio, says the mood was “joyous,” with “everybody clapping.”
Kaptur has experienced some push-back for her support of the health care bill too, but not like Stupak. She finds it disturbing, and says it has little to do with the abortion issue. “There were a lot of individuals who didn’t want this bill at all, and I think that’s where the vitriol is coming from,” says Kaptur.
Stupak is getting hammered on other fronts too. The Republican Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer, who interrupted Stupak on the House floor with cries of “baby killer,” is using the incident in a sort of campaign ad on his Web site. In the ad, Neugebuer says, “You know what? I am never going to quit speaking on behalf of the unborn.”
In Michigan, the little-known Republican running against Stupak in 2010 suddenly has thousands of friends on his Facebook page. Dr. Dan Benishek is richer, too. He says in the past two days he’s received $60,000 in campaign donations.
The Tea Party Express will also make its way to Michigan and Stupak’s district, not because of the abortion issue, but because of Stupak’s vote for health care reform, “[that will] burden the American people with even more debt and even more government control.”
Sister Simone Campbell, a progressive Catholic, feels for Stupak. She and other Catholic nuns came out in favor of health care reform. She is getting hammered too.
“One person called me a baby killer,” she says.
She met with Rep. Stupak on Wednesday to offer him comfort.
“He followed his conscience,” she says. “That’s all we’re asked to do. To be faithful. And I’m so grateful to him being faithful, and I know it is very hard. It’s a big price to pay.”