Republicans hoping to block the health bill in the Senate are relishing the Democrats' predicament. Reid, D-Nev., now faces a similar choice: Ultimately, he will need the votes of a handful of Democratic senators who oppose abortion to get his bill through. The bishops were instrumental in getting tough anti-abortion language adopted by the House, forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to accept restrictions that outraged liberals as the price for passing the Democratic health care bill. Harry Reid's bill is the worst he's seen so far on the divisive issue. A top Obama administration official is praising the new Senate health bill's attempt to find a compromise on abortion coverage - even as an official of the U.S. WASHINGTON - The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
WH differs with bishops over health care plan The AP article today makes it sound like the White House is none too happy, but they surely do have a fight on their hands. When the bishops were displeased with the House Bill, they got with our Democratic leaders and got backing for the Stupak Pitts amendment. Pelosi, who favors abortion rights, reluctantly agreed to bring the measure to the floor, and it became part of the broader bill that passed in the House late Saturday. Doerflinger and other representatives of the bishops on Friday met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to broker an agreement. A bloc of Democrats, backed by the Catholic bishops, threatened to scuttle the House health bill if leaders didn't take up the antiabortion measure. "The abortion issue was at the center of last-minute wrangling in the House. "We're really disappointed," said Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Abortion-rights supporters say the change would likely prevent any insurer who sells policies on the new government insurance exchanges from covering abortions, regardless of whether the purchaser is using a tax credit. That's a sharp reversal from the original bill, which included abortion coverage in the public plan and allowed those with a tax credit to enroll in a plan that covers the procedure. A proposed government insurance plan also wouldn't cover the procedure. Anyone who receives a new government tax credit to buy health insurance couldn't enroll in an insurance plan that covers abortion. The House's 11th-hour change to its health bill removes abortion coverage from millions of insurance policies that consumers would get under the legislation, including from private insurers.