Saturday, November 07, 2009
So The House has passed their version of the healthcare reform bill. I'm sure Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer and The White House are just as much pleased as they are relieved. The vote was 220-115. They needed 218 votes so it BARELY passed.
Having said that, now the harder part begins. The always contentious Senate will be next and there are no guarantees that it will pass especially with a bunch of moderate Democrats all demanding something a little different from the bill.
If the Senate does pass its version, then it's on to a House/Senate Conference committee where you can bet there will be a serious attempt to remove the pro-life abortion language that passed in the House version. If it is removed that is going to be a MAJOR role of the dice for the Democratic Leadership and The White House. Think about it. The healthcare reform bill just passed the house by a few votes. IF that pro-life abortion language is removed from the final bill, you can be sure that more thjan a handful of pro-life Democrats will vote no and the healthcare reform bill won't pass the House a second time. That looks to be the way it could play out. Stay tuned. I'm going to sleep. It's 11:30pm and I'm a little tired.
More Monday.
By a solid 240-194 margin, The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday adopted an extremely important pro-life amendment that will essentially prohibit federal funding of abortion in the health care reform legislation. Folks, this is a huge deal.
This war for the pro-life community is not over. A Senate battle is ahead and so is a potential battle to strip this language out of any eventual House/Senate conference committee but nevertheless what happened on Saturday in the House will go down as a HUGE victory for pro-life Americans.
I just got off a conference call late this evening with Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council and he called it a "very significant pro-life milestone".
More reaction from both the pro-life and pro-choice side is below but let me just offer a little analysis first:
First of all, if you just heard a loud thud well that was pro-choice liberals in the House plopping down in their seats dumbfounded and frustrated as can be. Not only does their healthcare reform bill not contain a "robust" public option but it now contains this new pro-life language. This is a horrible turn of events for House liberals. You can be sure they'll be pressure on Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer to strip this language out in conference (if the bill makes it that far) but for now this vote tonight is something pro-choice liberals will lose some sleep over.
It should not be lost that the vote here was 240-194. This was not a 218-217 squeker. Far from it. This was a pretty resounding statement about where this country is at regarding abortion. Think about it. The Democratic Party controls the House and yet look at how well this pro-life vote did tonight. Remember 2006 when the Democratic Party took control of the House? Well one of the reasons for that was because the party was able to find moderate pro-life Democrats in the South and other parts of the country to increase their margin. Well those same pro-life Democrats came back tonight and had their say.
Let me also say that Nancy Pelosi really had no choice here but to allow this vote. If she didn't, the healthcare reform bill would have gone down to defeat.
Here's the reaction from some key groups and people tonight:
Rep. Bart Stupak, (D-Michigan)
“Today all members of Congress were afforded the opportunity to vote their conscience and represent the wishes of their constituents on the issue of federal funding for abortion,” Stupak said. “Passage of the Stupak Amendment does not impose a new federal abortion policy; it simply continues what has been the law of the land since 1977 and I am pleased that with the addition of this amendment the House health care reform bill will continue that policy.”
“I have long been an advocate of health care reform. My goal has always been to ensure that the voices of the majority of Americans who oppose federal funding for abortion were heard in this important debate. Now that those voices have been heard we must move forward and pass a bill that provides quality, affordable health care for all Americans. I thank Speaker Pelosi for allowing this important vote to occur and I appreciate the hard work and perseverance of my pro-life colleagues in Congress who held strong and stood with me over the past several months as we worked to find a way to allow this vote against all odds.”
Statement by House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN)
“We believe in the sanctity of life, and the Stupak-Pitts Amendment addresses a moral issue of the utmost concern. It will limit abortion in the United States. Because of this, while we strongly and deeply oppose the underlying bill, we decided to stand with Life and support Stupak-Pitts.
“The danger of this bill passing without critical pro-life language was too great a risk to do otherwise. Indeed, a number of Democrat supporters of Stupak-Pitts had privately indicated to many of our colleagues that all they needed for “cover” was a vote, and they would support final passage even if the amendment failed.
"To be clear, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment's passage is the right thing to do. We believe you just don’t play politics with life.
“When this bill is conferenced with the Senate, the pro-life majority in the House of Representatives must ensure that this important amendment is in the final legislation. If it does not, this same strong majority must defeat the bill.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins:
"This is a huge pro-life victory for women, their unborn children, and families. We applaud this House vote which prohibits the abortion industry from further profiting from taxpayers by using government funds to pay for the gruesome act of abortion. I congratulate the bipartisan coalition that for months has worked to ensure that abortion is not covered in the bill.
"Since prior to last year's election Family Research Council has been working towards true health care reform that protects life, freedom and families. We supported efforts to ensure the legislation will not be paid for by the lives of future generations. We thank Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Joe Pitts (R-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) for standing with more than 70% of Americans who morally object to funding abortion with their hard earned dollars.
"Unfortunately, H.R. 3962 is a seriously flawed piece of legislation. The Speaker's bill still allows rationing of health care for seniors, raises health costs for families, mandates that families purchase under threat of fines and penalties, encourages counseling for assisted suicide in some states, does not offer broad conscience protections for health care workers and seeks to insert the federal government into all aspects of citizen's lives. Speaker Pelosi is using the guise of health care reform to push her version of social engineering onto American taxpayers. Additionally, the legislation would place a crushing debt on both current and future generations.
"FRC will work hard to ensure pro-life provisions remain intact as the bill goes through the legislative process, and will work tirelessly to ensure the legislation is more friendly to families than the current bill."
Americans United for Life Action President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest:
"The passage of this amendment is a victory for the pro-life Americans across this country who have flooded Congress this week with the message that abortion does not belong in health care. The bipartisan effort that led to its passage, under the leadership of Congressmen Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts, is a step toward a future where both political parties defend Life.”
“One victory however does not mean the battle is won,” Dr. Yoest continued. “We are deeply concerned by the rhetoric we heard today from Democratic leadership indicating an intention to subvert the bipartisan pro-life majority. We will remain vigilant in watching the final language of the Senate bill to ensure that pro-life protections remain in the final health care reform bill.”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser:
“Tonight the House of Representatives made a principled and politically sound decision to continue our nation’s longstanding policy of protecting taxpayers’ conscience in the area of abortion funding. We urge the Senate to follow suit. We will remain vigilant, and shift our efforts to the Senate to ensure that these same pro-life protections are added to the Senate bill.
“On behalf of the 280,000 members and activists of the Susan B. Anthony List who contacted Congress on this issue, I applaud all those who voted to honor the American legacy of protecting citizens’ conscience from conscription into activity to which most are morally opposed. Congress has sided with the resounding majority of citizens opposed to government funding of abortion. Supporters of government-funded abortion will now have some explaining to do back home, before voters head to the ballot box in 2010.
“If there’s one thing many members of Congress learned from Tuesday’s elections, it’s the danger of being out of step with your constituents. Votes do have consequences, and the recent tensions over health care reform should drive that message home. We will use every tool in our arsenal to ensure the folks back home know the truth about their legislator’s record.”
Center for Reproductive Rights Statement:
“Tonight’s vote in the House is a stunning assault on women’s health and rights. In a matter of hours, our elected officials have fallen hook, line and sinker for the anti-choice position, dispensing with a credible compromise on abortion and adopting a bill that would leave millions of women worse off than they already are today."
“American women demand that members of the Senate refuse the political bait which sullied the House vote and protect women’s health. Health care reform is supposed to provide affordable health care coverage to all Americans. Yet for women, this legislation gives with one hand and takes away with the other, forcing millions to buy insurance that does not meet all of their medical needs.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been a MAJOR player in this debate over abortion language in the House healthcare reform bill. The bottom line is that if they signed off on new acceptable language then that would be the key for many pro-life Democrats. The Brody File has received the two letters put out by the Bishops. The first one is in support of this new pro-life amendment that will be voted on today. (Saturday) The other one is more broader about their support for healthcare reform if the new pro-life amendment is adopted.
November 7, 2009
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we strongly urge you to vote for the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment and to support a fair process in the House of Representatives to consider this essential improvement in health care reform legislation. The Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment will keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections in the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962).
Despite some claims to the contrary, H.R. 3962 does not reflect the status quo on abortion. It fails to explicitly and clearly include the longstanding policy prohibiting federal funding of elective abortion and plans which include elective abortion (Hyde Amendment). Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other federal health legislation include this provision. Currently H.R. 3962 has some helpful provisions on conscience protection and non- preemption of state laws, but it utterly fails to maintain current prohibitions on abortion mandates and abortion funding. Instead it creates elaborate measures requiring people to pay for other people’s abortions with their taxes, private premiums or federal subsidies. Significantly, the Federal Employee Heath Benefit Program, which covers all members of Congress and their families, has long been governed by the Hyde amendment in all its aspects and is widely seen as a model for reform.
Additionally, H.R. 3962 allows the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to mandate that the “public option” will include unlimited abortions. Millions of purchasers will be forced to pay an “abortion surcharge,” which requires purchasers of many plans to pay directly and explicitly for abortion coverage. This is unprecedented in federal law.
The Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment will not affect coverage of abortion in non-subsidized health plans, and will not bar anyone from purchasing a supplemental abortion policy with their own funds. Thus far, H.R. 3962 does not meet President Obama’s commitment of barring use of federal dollars for abortion and maintaining current conscience laws.
If the Motion to Recommit focuses on denying immigrants needed health care, as reported, we strongly urge Members to oppose the Motion to Recommit.
Our Bishops’ conference has been working for many years to support health care reform legislation that truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all. Adopting this amendment will help move us move toward this essential national priority and moral imperative.
Sincerely,
Bishop William Murphy Cardinal Justin Rigali
Diocese of Rockville Centre Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Chairman Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice and Committee on Pro-life Activities
Human Development
NEXT LETTER
November 7, 2009
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative:
The Catholic Bishops of the United States have supported adequate and affordable health
care for decades. Our Bishops’ conference has been working with Members of Congress, the Administration and others to help fashion health care reform legislation that truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all.
We are very pleased that the House leadership has agreed to allow the essential Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment to be considered by the House. This amendment will add to the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) crucial provisions that maintain the current protections against abortion funding and mandates. Specifically, it will achieve our objective of applying the provisions of the Hyde amendment to the public health plan and on the affordability credits in the exchanges called for in the legislation.
Passing this amendment allows the House to meet our criteria of preserving the existing protections against abortion funding in the new legislation. It also would fulfill President Obama’s commitment in this area. Most importantly, it will ensure that no government funds will be used for abortion or health plans which include abortion. It is a major step forward. We express appreciation for the courageous and principled leadership of the Democratic pro-life caucus, especially Representatives Stupak, Ellsworth, Kaptur, Oberstar, Donnelly, Doyle, Dahlkemper, and others who played essential roles in persuading the House leadership to allow this essential amendment to come to the floor. We also welcome the wise decision of the House leadership to take this important procedural step which we believe will help pass much needed health care reform.
The Conference will remain vigilant and involved through this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and included in the final legislation. With this important step forward we hope the House can come together and finally move forward essential reform which truly will protect the life, dignity, conscience and health of all. We also hope the Senate will follow the example of the House and include these essential safeguards in their version of health care reform legislation.
We are deeply concerned about other aspects of health care reform, especially as it affects the poor and vulnerable in our midst. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation protects conscience rights. We strongly support provisions in the legislation that will make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that have now. If the Motion to Recommit focuses on denying immigrants needed health care, as reported, we strongly urge Members to oppose the Motion to Recommit.
The nation and the Congress are now engaged in an intense and much needed national discussion on how to provide affordable and accessible health care for all. We are not experts on health care policy and cannot assess every provision of legislation as complex as this proposal. However, health care legislation is not just political, technical, or economic, but also moral. Health care reform is about life and death, who can take their children to the doctor and who cannot, who can afford decent health care coverage and who are left to fend for themselves.
For the Catholic Church, health care is a basic human right and providing health care is an essential ministry. We pick up the pieces of this failing system in our emergency rooms, clinics, parishes and communities. This is why we strongly support Congressional action on health care reform which protects human life and dignity and serves the poor and vulnerable as a moral imperative and an urgent national priority.
Sincerely,
Bishop William Murphy Cardinal Justin Rigali
Diocese of Rockville Centre Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Chairman Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice and Committee on Pro-life Activities
Human Development
In case you haven't heard, pro-life lawmakers won a big battle against liberals late last night when they struck a deal with the Democratic House Leadership (Pelosi and Hoyer) that will allow them to offer much stricter language on abortion coverage in the healthcare reform bill. Read more on that from my late night post here.
A couple updates.(after afew hours sleep) The amendment is technically called the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Smith-Kaptur-Dahlkemper amendment. Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Joe Pitts (R-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) all testified before the House Rules Committee early Saturday morning in support of their amendment to address the abortion funding concerns in H.R. 3962.
A Pro-Life aide is circulating the following as to what the amendment will do:
"The amendment maintains the current policy of preventing federal funding for abortion and for benefits packages that include abortion. However, it clarifies that individuals, both who receive affordability credits and who do not, can with their own funds purchase separate supplemental coverage for elective abortions. It also clarifies that private plans that do not receive government subsidies may still offer elective abortions. "
Expect a vote at any point today (Saturday) The amendment is expected to narrowly pass since more than 40 House Pro-Life Democrats will combine with virtually all Republicans to reach that magical 218 number for the amendment to pass. If it passes, it's going to drive liberals absolutely crazy. They will have a decision to make at that point. Either vote NO on the overall healthcare reform bill because the bill will now NOT allo federal funds to pay for abortions OR swallow hard and vote YES on healthcare reform anyhow.
A top Republican source on the Hill tells The Brody File the following:
"The Stupak amendment is expected to garner significant Republican support because it is strictest possible abortion language. The vote on Mr. Stupak’s amendment looks like it will be very close, and if it passes then the liberal Democrats will just have to swallow it if they want to pass the overall bill."
Breaking news tonight:
It's about 1:45am Saturday morning as I write this but it is now official. The Rules Committee is going to allow Pro-Life members of Congress to offer an amendment to the healthcare reform bill on the House floor that would clearly and plainly state that there can be no funding for abortion and no government subsidies for plans that cover abortion.
This "Hyde Amendment" type of language will indeed be brought to the House floor for a vote. The vote would require a simple majority (218 votes) not two-thirds as is sometimes the case.
This amendment will have quite a few names on it but it is basically the Stupak-Pitts language that was voted down in committee a few months ago. (though it's not an exact carbon copy) This amendment offered in the Rules Committee tonight is the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts Amendment. Through long negotiations tonight with Democratic House leadership, Pro-Life Democrats Bart Stupak and Brad Ellsworth along with Pro-Life Republican Joe Pitts were able to make some progress and they will now get the vote they have always wanted... and quite frankly the entire pro-life community has wanted from the start. If this vote becomes reality, it would be a big victory for the pro-life community. This language has a very good chance of passing if the Pro-Life Democrats join with all Republicans to pass it. Don't expect pro-life Republicans to vote for the final healthcare reform bill but the pro-life Democrats will probably do so which means healthcare reform should pass the house but probably WITHOUT the abortion language liberals wanted.
Among the people inside the Speaker's office tonight were Bart Stupak, Brad Ellsworth, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Brody File has the amendment that is being debated in the Rules Committee tonight: Read it below:
AMENDMENT TO H.R. llllllll, AS
REPORTED
OFFERED BY MR. STUPAK OF MICHIGAN
(Amendment is to H.R. 3962, As Proposed to be Amended by
Mr. Dingell’s Amendment)
Page 97, strike line 13 and all that follows through
page 98, line 7.
Page 110, strike lines 1 through 7.
Page 114, line 21, strike ‘‘consistent with subsection
(e) of such section’’.
Page 118, line 21, strike ‘‘(including subsection
(e))’’.
Page 154, after line 18, insert the following new section (and conform the table of contents of division A accordingly):
1 SEC. 265. LIMITATION ON ABORTION FUNDING.
2
(a) IN GENERAL.—No funds authorized or appro3 priated by this Act (or an amendment made by this Act)
4 may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part
5 of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of
6 abortion, except in the case where a woman suffers from
7 a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that
2
would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including
a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising
from the pregnancy itself, or unless the pregnancy is the
result of an act of rape or incest.
(b) OPTION TO PURCHASE SEPARATE SUPPLEMENTAL COVERAGE OR PLAN.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed as prohibiting any nonfederal entity (including an individual or a State or local government) from
purchasing separate supplemental coverage for abortions
for which funding is prohibited under this section, or a
plan that includes such abortions, so long as—
(1) such coverage or plan is paid for entirely
using only funds not authorized or appropriated by
this Act; and
(2) such coverage or plan is not purchased
using nonfederal funds required to receive a federal
payment, including a State’s or locality’s contribution of Medicaid matching funds.
(c) OPTION TO OFFER SEPARATE SUPPLEMENTAL
COVERAGE OR PLAN.—Notwithstanding section 303(b),
nothing in this section shall restrict any nonfederal QHBP
offering entity from offering separate supplemental coverage for abortions for which funding is prohibited under
1 this section, or a plan that includes such abortions, so long
2 as—
3
(1) premiums for such separate supplemental
4 coverage or plan are paid for entirely with funds not Click here to see the language of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment from earlier this summer in committee.
5 authorized or appropriated by this Act;
6 (2) administrative costs and all services offered
7 through such supplemental coverage or plan are paid
8 for using only premiums collected for such coverage
9 or plan; and
10 (3) any nonfederal QHBP offering entity that
11 offers an Exchange-participating health benefits
12 plan that includes coverage for abortions for which
13 funding is prohibited under this section also offers
14 an Exchange-participating health benefits plan that
15 is identical in every respect except that it does not
16 cover abortions for which funding is prohibited
17 under this section.
Page 171, strike line 5 and all that follows through
page 172, line 8.
Page 182, line 22, strike ‘‘willingness or’’.
Page 246, strike lines 11 through 14.