By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)
WASHINGTON — On the other side of the obstacle course that President Barack Obama must clear to get his health care overhaul, a final trapdoor is lurking: the divisive politics of abortion.
The issue pits House Democrats against each other just when Obama is calling on them to unite for one last push on health care in a perilous election year. The fate of the sweeping legislation to expand coverage and revamp the health insurance market hangs in the balance.
House Democrats opposed to abortion, as well as their counterparts who support abortion rights, are resisting funding restrictions on the procedure spelled out in the Senate health care overhaul bill. But the plan Democratic leaders have worked out for the health care endgame calls for House Democrats to pass that same Senate bill, with little prospect of changing the abortion language.
Although each chamber is also supposed to pass a companion package of agreed-upon changes, abortion funding is not among them. It doesn't appear likely to be included.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi vented her frustration Thursday, telling reporters she will not stand for health care legislation getting dragged down in a battle over abortion. "This is not about abortion," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "This is a bill about providing quality affordable health care for all Americans."
She may not have a choice, says a leading abortion foe.
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., says he and a dozen fellow Democrats who supported the House bill will vote against it this time unless the Senate language is replaced with stiffer restrictions previously adopted by the House. The House health care bill passed by 220-215 last November, only after Pelosi was forced to give Stupak a floor vote that incorporated his strict abortion funding provision in the measure.
Nothing has changed, says Stupak. "I don't think they have the votes to pass it," he said.
Associated Press
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