Deal pushes Democrats toward a vote today

Washington Post

Last update: November 6, 2009 - 11:24 PM

WASHINGTON - House Democrats late Friday cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a historic vote on health care legislation.

A vote on the bill is now expected today -- after President Obama makes a late-morning trip to the Capitol to make one final pitch for it.

The fate of the trillion-dollar health plan got snagged Friday on the outcome of a showdown with about two dozen Democrats who wanted to explicitly prohibit federal funds from paying for abortions through new, federally sponsored health-insurance plans. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops circulated a letter late Friday arguing that the legislation could otherwise force individuals who oppose abortion to indirectly subsidize the procedure with their tax dollars.

In a late-night compromise, Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan said he and other abortion opponents will be given a chance to insert tougher abortion restrictions into the legislation during debate on the House floor.

The leadership hopes that no matter how that vote turns out, Democrats will then unite to give the health care bill a majority over unanimous Republican opposition.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has little margin for error: Democrats control 258 seats and need 218 votes for passage, meaning she can afford to lose only 40 members of her caucus.

GOP leaders boasted that all 177 House Republicans stood ready to oppose the bill.

The legislation would create a federally supervised insurance marketplace where the uninsured could purchase coverage. Consumers would have the option of picking a government-run plan, the most hotly contested item in the legislation and the basis for the Republican claim that Democrats were planning a government takeover of the insurance industry.

Obama, his top aides and at least two Cabinet secretaries worked the phones Friday, trying to win over wavering lawmakers. Asked if she had the votes for passage, Pelosi said only: "We'll see when we get to the floor."

A separate dispute over immigration policy was still festering. Hispanic lawmakers said they had received assurances from House leaders that the bill would not be changed to bar undocumented workers from purchasing insurance, even with their own money, through the new insurance marketplaces. Language promoted by the White House would establish such a barrier.

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