Oh, this is definitely worth noting. You'll hear a lot today about the President's re-vamped proposal, and whether or not Democrats in Congress will use "reconciliation" to move the legislation along faster.
What you might not hear a lot about, unless you're looking for it, is that abortion is still very much a sticking point in getting something passed.
Here's the deal. The President's plan goes with the Senate language, which wasn't as strong as the House language that federal funds cannot be used to pay for abortions. Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak, who heads up the Pro Life Democrats in the House says there's no way the House is going to go for that.
If that's true, they may have a problem having enough votes to get the health care bill through.
Then, there's the whole problem of how lawmakers would be able to make a deal anyway. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer acknowledged yesterday that it's a problem. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi eluded that she's open to not letting abortion be such a big deal, saying, "This is not an abortion bill."
Guess we'll see.