Print
E-mail
House Health-Care Bill Requires Abortion Coverage
 |
| Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks at Commercial Maintenance, Inc., in West Hartford, Conn., Monday, Aug 3, 2009. Sebelius was part of panel which addressed a small group of local businessmen and politicians on the issue of healthcare reform at the company headquarters. (AP Photo/George Ruhe) |
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee amended their party’s health-care reform proposal to require that every region in the U.S. have at least one abortion-providing health insurer.
House Republicans quickly pounced on the legislation, which, a statement of theirs said, “would allow for immediate federal funding of elective abortion coverage through the public plan [and] permit taxpayer subsidies of private plans that cover elective abortion.”
The amendment’s sponsor, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Ca., included a token of conciliation in her amendment, but every Republican on the committee (not all of them pro-lifers) viewed it as insufficient. It stated that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee that the health-care proposal would create would not be able to require all insurers to carry abortion coverage.
All Republicans and several Democrats voted against the Capps amendment, but it still narrowly passed.
The committee also voted down an amendment to the bill coauthored by U.S. Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mi., and Joe Pitts, R-Pa., to prevent all private insurers from being required to cover abortions. The amendment succeeded narrowly on the first vote but Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Ca., called for reconsideration of the vote at which point he was able to get fellow Democrat Bart Gordon of Tennessee to change his pivotal vote to “no.”
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
House Republicans quickly pounced on the legislation, which, a statement of theirs said, “would allow for immediate federal funding of elective abortion coverage through the public plan [and] permit taxpayer subsidies of private plans that cover elective abortion.”
The amendment’s sponsor, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Ca., included a token of conciliation in her amendment, but every Republican on the committee (not all of them pro-lifers) viewed it as insufficient. It stated that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee that the health-care proposal would create would not be able to require all insurers to carry abortion coverage.
All Republicans and several Democrats voted against the Capps amendment, but it still narrowly passed.
The committee also voted down an amendment to the bill coauthored by U.S. Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mi., and Joe Pitts, R-Pa., to prevent all private insurers from being required to cover abortions. The amendment succeeded narrowly on the first vote but Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Ca., called for reconsideration of the vote at which point he was able to get fellow Democrat Bart Gordon of Tennessee to change his pivotal vote to “no.”
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
 |
 |
|
| Court Schedules Hearings For Inquirer Bankruptcy | ‘Inquirer’ Reveals Refinancing Plan |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thebulletin.us.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
Paul Bradford wrote on Aug 4, 2009 5:07 PM:
Health Care Reform is good for the unborn. Women who don't have money for pre-natal and pediatric care are far more likely to abort than those who do. The more women we insure the fewer abortions we will have.
Paul Bradford, Pro-Life Catholics for Choice "