Senate Health Bill Rejects Anti-Choice Extremes

[jefferson_dem]

Senate Health Bill Rejects Anti-Choice Extremes
posted by John Nichols on 11/18/2009 @ 9:58pm

The Senate health-care bill unveiled Wednesday night by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, is not exactly the cure for all of what ails America.

But the 2,074-page document significantly expands access to medical care for Americans who currently lack coverage, contains a modest public option, bars discrimination by insurers against Americans with pre-existing medical conditions and gets remarkably good marks from the Congressional Budget Office.

In many respects, Reid's "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" is a better bill than the House measure.

And it one respect, it is dramatically better.

The Senate plan does not contain the draconian "Stupak" language, which was written into the House bill with the intent of establishing radical new limits on access to reproductive health services.

As part of negotiations to secure passage of the House health-care reform bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, agreed to a vote on an amendment by Congressman Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, that did not merely forbid a government-run "public option" from covering abortion services. It also barred private insurance plans that might participate in the exchange set up by the new program from doing so.

Republicans in the House aligned with 64 Democrats to attach the radical anti-abortion language to the bill, which was then passed by a narrow 220-215 margin.

Reid rejects the Stupak language.

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http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/498754/senate_health_bill_rejects_anti_choice_extremes

[Kdillard]

1. k and r. Down with the Stupid Amendment.

[tekisui]

2. knr!~

[Clio the Leo]

3. I am now convinced.....

.... that the "delay" in the release of the CBO score (it was supposed to come out last Friday) was due to the addition and scoring of a Stupak killer (the bill of course, not the man.)

But I am totally cluless, so ignore me.

[karynnj]

4. I think you might be right

There are few other things that could have been being worked on that would not have required MORE time for the CBO to re-estimate the cost due the change.

[Jennicut]

5. I am totally shocked that the Senate version will not contain that awful amendment

But happily surprised.

[defendandprotect]

6. k i c k

[Cha]

7. Yeah, thanks Jefferson and John

Nichols!