The political demise of a pro-life Democrat in West Virginia

Allan Mollohan is a pro-life Democrat who has for twenty-eight years represented the congressional district in West Virginia in which I grew up.  Today he was trounced (56%-44%) in the primary by a pro-life challenger, Michael Oliverio.  Mollohan's vote in favor of a health care bill that failed to secure Hyde Amendment protection to unborn children and pro-life taxpayers probably cost him his seat.  I suspect that the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress will tell a different story.  They will say that ethics problems sank the veteran congressman.  But that claim is dubious.  Mollohan has been under an ethics cloud for several years, but (like the late John Murtha, a pro-life Democrat in the Pennsylvania district just north of Mollohan's West Virginia district, who was also under an ethics cloud) he was returned to office in 2008 despite the cloud.  Members of my family and friends in the district tell me that Mollohan would have prevailed today had it not been for what pro-life West Virginians perceived as a betrayal.  It will be interesting to see now what happens to other pro-life Democrats who supported the Senate version of the health care bill, such as Brad Ellsworth in Indiana, Steve Driehaus in Ohio, and Kathy Dalhkemper in Pennsylvania.  They have been targeted by, among other pro-life groups, Susan B. Anthony's List, the pro-life political organization whose television and radio ads and robo calling were instrumental in bringing down Mollohan---a congressman the organization had supported in previous elections.