House Leaders Seek Backing of Antiabortion-Rights Dems as Health Reform Vote Nears

November 6, 2009 — House Democratic leaders are working to secure the 218 votes required to pass the House health care reform bill (HR 3962) ahead of a possible vote this weekend, the Washington Post reports. Several Democrats remain undecided over the legislation's language on abortion, immigration and other issues.

According to the Post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders are trying to limit the number of party defections to the 25 representatives who are already considered "hard no" votes. By this weekend's vote, there will be 258 Democrats in the House -- including two newly elected members -- meaning that Pelosi cannot afford to lose more than 40 Democratic votes if the bill is to pass, the Post reports. It is unlikely that any Republicans will vote for the bill (Murray/Montgomery, Washington Post, 11/6). President Obama was scheduled to meet Friday with House Democrats at the Capitol, but the meetings have been rescheduled for Saturday (Werner, AP/Yahoo! News, 11/6).

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Friday to construct the framework for the bill's floor debate. Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said that more than 50 amendments have been filed by members from both parties and that the debate is expected to take about five hours on Saturday. However, Republicans could extend the debate time by several hours, possibly into Sunday, through procedural maneuvering (Washington Post, 11/6). Slaughter said that members will not be allowed to offer amendments to the bill, except for a Republican substitute amendment. However, the committee will hear requests to consider other amendments on Friday, CQ Today reports (Wayne, CQ Today, 11/5). Slaughter said that in addition to the 42-page manager's amendment released Tuesday, the Rules Committee will approve a rule that is expected to include a provision by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) aimed at quelling disputes over abortion coverage (Washington Post, 11/6).

Pelosi would not comment on a possible move by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) to prohibit any federally subsidized insurance plan, including the public option, from covering abortion services, even if paid for with private funds (Epstein, CQ Today, 11/5).

The House bill in its current form allows individual health insurance plans offered through insurance exchanges to cover abortion services, although plans would be required to segregate private funds and federal subsidies to ensure that no federal funding is used to pay for abortion coverage. However, some antiabortion-rights Democrats are seeking further restrictions. In an effort to compromise on the issue, Ellsworth's amendment would require federal health officials in charge of the insurance exchange to hire private contractors to administer payments to abortion providers to avoid direct federal payments (Washington Post, 11/6). Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said that the 190-member group will not accept any additional restrictions beyond Ellsworth's amendment, adding that the caucus "is not going to compromise any further than we already have." She said that although some abortion-rights supporters do not like Ellsworth's wording, they will not oppose the final bill because of it (Wayne, CQ Today, 11/5).

Some antiabortion-rights House members say the amendment does not go far enough to ensure that federal funds are not used for abortion coverage, the Post reports (Washington Post, 11/6). Politico reports that negotiators are working closely with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to create final language that the church can accept. Some antiabortion-rights Democrats in vulnerable districts say they do not want to support a bill the bishops have not endorsed, Politico reports (O'Connor, Politico, 11/6).

Dems Tally Votes

As the negotiations continue, Democratic leaders are working to gain the support of as many undecided Democrats as possible, the Post reports (Washington Post, 11/6). According to the New York Times, the undecided Democrats include Reps. Jason Altmire (Ga.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Zack Space (Ohio) and Harry Teague (N.M.), among others.

Some Democrats have already said they will not be voting for the final bill, including Reps. Dan Boren (Okla.), Bobby Bright (Ala.,) Jim Marshall (Ga.) and Ike Skelton (Mo.) (Hulse/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 11/6). The Times also reports that Democratic Reps. Travis Childers (Miss.), Artur Davis (Ala.) and Bart Gordon (Tenn.) have said they will not vote for the final bill (Herszenhorn, New York Times, 11/6).

According to the AP/Google News, Pelosi has "two more Democrats to count on" after Tuesday's elections delivered victories for Reps. John Garamendi (Calif.), the former lieutenant governor of California, and Bill Owens (N.Y.). Garamendi was sworn in on Thursday, and Owens will be sworn in on Friday (Werner/Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Google News, 11/6).

The House health reform bill also received a boost on Thursday from key endorsements by AARP, the American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association, the Boston Globe reports (Milligan, Boston Globe, 11/6). Obama said he was "extraordinarily pleased and grateful" for the endorsements, adding, "We are closer to passing this reform bill than ever before" (Kiely, USA Today, 11/6).

Antiabortion-Rights Protesters Arrested

Also on Thursday, U.S. Capitol Police arrested about a dozen antiabortion-rights protesters outside Pelosi's office after a larger protest against the Democrats' health reform bill, the AP/San Diego Union Tribune reports. Pelosi's staff said the arrested protesters were objecting to the current abortion language in the bill. Capitol Police spokesperson Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said the charges ranged from unlawful conduct to disorderly conduct and unlawful entry (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/5).

Efforts To Exclude Abortion Coverage 'Unreasonable Standard,' Editorial Says

In an editorial on Friday, the Los Angeles Times says that debate over abortion and undocumented immigrants in the House health reform bill is not "really about what the federal government does with tax dollars." Rather, the disputes are "about the indirect effects of that spending, and that's an unreasonable standard," it continues. The "real goal of abortion opponents isn't to maintain the status quo," the editorial says, adding, "It's to extend federal prohibitions into private pocketbooks." It continues, "By restricting coverage offered through the exchange, they hope to make abortion coverage so unattractive that insurers eventually stop offering it in the market for individual and small-group policies" (Los Angeles Times, 11/6).