Status of Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill Uncertain as Senate, House Democrats Meet
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 25, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The status of the pro-abortion health care bill in Congress is uncertain as House and Senate Democrats spent the weekend planning their next step in the wake of a key election loss in Massachusetts that leaves them without a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Meanwhile, advisors for pro-abortion President Barack Obama spent the weekend on television shows saying they vowed to push ahead with a bill, though they gave few details on what kind of bill or how they would get it passed in Congress.
Obama himself said Friday he thinks one problem with the pro-abortion health care bill is that Americans view it as a “monstrosity" filled with special deals.
The biggest question is whether Democrats will play hardball and attempt to get the current pro-abortion health care bill through Congress with just 51 votes in the Senate.
As LifeNews.com has profiled, Democratic leaders could opt for the controversial process known as reconciliation — normally reserved for rare occasions on which important financial legislation needs to be considered.
Republicans say that the outcry from the public for railroading the current bill through Congress using this parliamentary procedure will draw significant opposition from the American public.
“If they try to jam health care through on partisan lines, I think November 2010 will be a very good month for us,” pro-life Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas lawmaker who heads the Republican Senate election efforts, told the Fox News Sunday program.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already admitted that she doesn’t have the votes to pass the pro-abortion Senate bill in the House, so the focus may be placed on crafting a brand new bill designed to generate enough votes in both chambers. Whether such a bill would fund abortions and promote assisted suicide or rationing is up in the air.
Another question is how hard Obama will push for a health care bill.
Facing approval ratings dropping like a rock and a public that has always been opposed to the pro-abortion health care plan, Obama is planning to switch focus to jobs and the economy with the November mid-term elections on the horizon in order to salvage as many seats in Congress as he can in the face of potential heavy losses and victories for pro-life candidates.
That could put the health care bill on the back burner, perhaps indefinitely.
Said pro-abortion Sen. Max Baucus of Montana on Friday: “I don’t know when we’re going to do health care."
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