Obama Rx for health sparks abortion revolt

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is facing a potential mutiny among liberal Democrats in Congress over a $1.1 trillion health care bill that includes new restrictions on abortion in the United States.

But even as the White House tries to head off the revolt among pro-choice lawmakers, conservative Senate Democrats are demanding anti-abortion language remain part of any final health care package that Obama signs into law.

The unexpected tempest over abortion has caught the White House somewhat off guard, adding a politically explosive complication just as Obama's efforts to implement universal health care coverage appeared to be gaining momentum.

"This is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," Obama told ABC's Nightline, hoping to tamp down the controversy.

At issue is a last-minute amendment added to the House of Representatives' version of health care reform, which passed 220 to 215 last weekend.

The House bill would prohibit coverage of abortion services under a new government-run public insurance plan except in case of incest, rape or life-threatening situations. That language reflects existing U.S. health care law.

But the legislation also bars individuals from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion if they receive a government subsidy to make health coverage affordable.

About 85 per cent of private insurance plans in the U.S. currently cover abortion.

Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, called the amendment's passage "a huge pro-life victory for women, their unborn children, and families."

While the House bill may have been defeated without the anti-abortion wording, the ensuing backlash among pro-choice Democrats now threatens to scuttle any final health package that emerges after the U.S. Senate considers the legislation.

Rep. Diana DeGette, who chairs the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, says the bill violates the principle of "abortion neutrality" — meaning access to abortion should not be enhanced or restricted under any new health care law.

Instead, the anti-abortion amendment "represents an unprecedented and unacceptable restriction on women's ability to access the full range of reproductive health services to which they are lawfully entitled," DeGette wrote in a letter signed by 40 other Democrats. "We will not vote for a (final bill) that contains language that restricts women's right to choose any further than current law."

The stage is now set for the abortion debate to play out on the floor of the U.S. Senate, which is expected to take up its version of the health care bill next week.

Already, one conservative Democratic senator says he will insist on the inclusion of an anti-abortion rider.

"If it isn't clear that government money is not to be used to fund abortions — whether it's subsidies or direct payments or tax credits or something like that — I will not support it," said Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson.

Obama said "there needs to be some more work" done to ensure the health care bill neither restricts nor expands access to abortion.

"We're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions," he told Nightline.

"I want to make sure that the provision that emerges meets that test — that we are not in some way sneaking in funding for abortions, but, on the other hand, that we're not restricting women's insurance choices."

The House legislation would extend health care coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans, partly by expanding coverage under the existing Medicaid plan for the poorest citizens.

It creates a new government-run insurance plan that would compete against private insurance companies in a new health-care exchange. And it would make it mandatory for all Americans to purchase health insurance, with the government offering subsidies to make coverage more affordable for the middle class.

The White House is hoping the two chambers of Congress can produce a final, reconciled health care bill for Obama's signature by year's end.