News: Abortion & Health Care Reform In USA

U.S. House: Liberals Threaten To Sink Health Bill Over Stupak Abortion Amendment

More than 40 lawmakers vowed to oppose the final healthcare bill if the U.S. House language on abortion is not removed. Reps. Diana DeGette (Colo.) and Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) led the group of Democrats in writing to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) threatening to withhold support for a final conference report if it strictly prohibits federal funding for abortion services. Rep. DeGette and Rep. Slaughter, who is the chairwoman of the powerful Rules Committee, also wrote President Barack Obama requesting a meeting on the issue next week.

The House bill prohibits insurance companies from selling policies that pay for abortion services unless customers purchase supplementary coverage and forbids the government-run public option insurance plan from paying for abortions.

U.S. Senate Faces Abortion Rights Rift

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found his health reform efforts seriously complicated today by abortion, as key centrist senators said they wanted airtight language blocking federal funding for the procedure. Abortion threatened to derail a House health reform bill on Saturday, and now it’s standing in the way of Reid’s attempts to get 60 votes as well, with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) saying he wants to see language as restrictive as the House’s in the Senate bill. If the language isn’t clear in prohibiting federal funds for abortion, “you could be sure I would vote against it,” said Sen. Nelson, who met today with Sen. Reid. Other key moderates didn’t go quite that far, but at least two others — Sens. Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — said they, too, want to ensure that the Senate bill prevents federal dollars from paying for abortion. “I think all of us have recognized throughout that there are three things” — abortion, illegal immigration and the public option — “that could really bring this down,” said Sen. Conrad, the only Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee to vote with Republicans on amendments restricting abortion.

Democratic leaders have tried to keep abortion out of the health care debate. But the House’s inclusion of the amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) makes it virtually certain that there will be a new Senate litmus test — for both proponents and opponents. The issue puts Sen. Reid in a difficult spot. He opposes abortion except in cases of incest or rape or when the life of the mother is endangered. But Sen. Reid has also tried to avoid making his caucus, which overwhelmingly supports abortion, to take abortion votes.