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Waxman said that if the language is changed to Stupak's preference
-- to bar any subsidy money from going to any insurance plan that includes abortion coverage
-- the result would be to deny women legal and sometimes medically necessary procedures. The advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America is dissatisfied with the language now in the bill, contending that it "singles out abortion from other health care services, but apparently it was necessary to stop anti-choice politicians from continuing to use health care reform to attack a woman's right to choose," according to a statement from the group's president, Nancy Keenan. NARAL recently sent a letter to supporters singling out Stupak for criticism and asking them to call their members of Congress to make sure he doesn't prevail. On the other side, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it can't support a health overhaul bill unless the anti-abortion language is strengthened. Unless an eleventh-hour agreement is reached, Stupak intends to carry through on a threat he's been holding over House leaders for months: to block action on the larger health overhaul bill unless he's allowed to offer a stand-alone amendment during floor debate to include the Hyde amendment restrictions in the health overhaul bill. Such an amendment would be almost certain to prevail, since it likely would attract the votes of most Republicans as well as some Democrats. So Democratic leaders won't let Stupak offer it. Instead, it appears they may have to take the risk of letting Stupak try to block action on the underlying bill, which he intends to do by assembling "no" votes on a procedural measure that needs to pass before debate can begin. In the Senate, where the leading health overhaul bill includes language similar to that in the House, abortion has been much less of an issue.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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