Things are looking more and more uncertain on the House side when it comes to the new health care bill coming out of the senate. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the co-chairs of the 190 member strong abortion rights caucus are question the Constitutionality of the new anti-abortion language:
As the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, we have serious reservations about the abortion provision included in the U.S. Senate’s health care bill,” the lawmakers said.
“This provision is not only offensive to people who believe in choice, but it is also possibly unconstitutional,” DeGette and Slaughter added. “As we have maintained throughout this process, health care reform should not be misused to take away access to health care.”
Add to that the fact that NOW, NARAL and the Center for Reproductive Rights have now all come out opposing the bill, this will spell a lot of trouble for the bill, especially when it comes time to vote on the final conference.
As far as what would be unconstitutional about the provision, I’m not really sure, but Slaughter and DeGette are promising a fight:
DeGette and Slaughter had previously warned that if the final healthcare bill were to include restrictions on abortion spending, they would lead the Pro-Choice Caucus against the bill.
“The more than 190-member Caucus will review this language carefully as we move forward on health care reform,” the two said.
Given the 220-215 victory the original House bill saw, this puts acceptance of the conference bill in big peril.
There is still the “ping-pong” option, where the Senate bill becomes the final bill, bypassing conference. The White House has said they don’t want that option and the House appears ready to fight it. In all honesty, such a move would become a cattle call of corruption against Democratic leadership, especially in the Senate. That means it is less likely to happen as it would make Reid’s re-election chances that much more complicated.
So to anyone who thought this thing was over, sorry. We got a long way to go with a very uncertain future.