Abortion debate looms over health care reform

President Obama and House Democrats celebrated a decisive moment in the future of health care this weekend, despite the heated party-line debate on abortion funding.

The House passed health care legislation Nov. 7 that would provide coverage to millions of Americans without health insurance. The vote was close, with 220 yes votes to 215 nays, after a last-minute amendment was added to restrict the government from subsidizing abortions. With many incensed over the ongoing abortion debate, the bill may prove difficult to pass in the Senate -- a task that Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama are hoping to accomplish by the year's end, according to The New York Times.
 
"For years we've been told that this couldn't be done.  After all, neither chamber of Congress has been able to pass a comprehensive health insurance reform bill for generations.  But last night the House proved differently," said the president in a public address. He urged undecided Democrats to consider the health initiative's overall goal.
 
The legislation would cost $1.1 trillion over ten years, extending the coverage to the 36 million Americans who currently live without insurance.
 
The House battle was in finding common ground Saturday amongst much opposition to the passage of a health care bill that would include abortion rights. Critics ranged from Roman Catholic bishops to a unified GOP front and a number of conservative Democrats.

Photo courtesy: Flickr user erin m

The amendment

The bill's language regarding abortions proved to be a problem, with many critics of abortion rights speculating that taxpayers could inadvertently end up paying for the procedures. Early Saturday morning before the debate got underway, House leaders struggled to compromise on the language of the abortion provision, to ensure the government would not end up funding them.

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) said he is concerned about the current language regarding federal funding for abortion procedures.

In a public address Ellsworth said, "I will not support a bill that I believe would result in federal tax dollars being used to provide abortions. Unless there is stronger language added to protect federal tax dollars and provide pro-life insurance options in the exchange, I cannot support it."

One such compromise proposed by Ellsworth was that government plans and private plans for those without employer insurance could cover abortions, but the money would be selected from premiums, not government funds.

 
However, this was shot down because anti-abortion groups felt that the allocation of government money could not be properly supervised.
 
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) provided an alternative amendment that would prohibit any funding by government insurance plans or private plans with members who are buying coverage with government subsidies. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops backed this amendment.
 
In this amendment, women would have the option of purchasing "riders" -- separate from the whole health-plan -- that would cover an abortion. However, abortion rights supporters have a problem with this, considering that the procedure is usually unexpected, and it would be unlikely women would purchase these "riders" when obtaining health insurance in the first place.

Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, has a difficult job ahead of him to attempt passing the bill in the Senate by Christmas.

Photo courtesy: Flickr user erin m

Compromise of some sort 

The House eventually decided that the medical procedures would not be subsidized under a new federal health insurance plan or private health insurance plans that include members relying on government funds.
 
This satisfied anti-abortion groups, such as Catholic bishops and conservative Democrats.
 
For Democrats who support abortion rights, many of the restrictions are unsettling; however, in order to get the bill passed, they may accept the amendments as opposed to denying legislation that has taken months to prepare.

While the amendment proved disarming to many passionate for abortion rights, a compromise was reached in order to pass an initiative that would achieve numerous goals for health reform.