Sens. Reid, Casey Continue Work On Abortion Coverage Compromise Language

Negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) to craft compromise language on abortion coverage in the Senate health care reform bill (HR 3590) continued on Tuesday with the hopes of gaining antiabortion-rights Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-Neb.) support for the bill, Politico’s “Live Pulse” reports (Frates, “Live Pulse,” Politico, 12/15)…

Public Funding Of Abortion Should Be Treated Like Other Legal Medical Procedures, Editorial Says

There are two things “on which we can all agree: We’re never going to all agree on abortion,” and abortion, “with some restrictions, is a legal medical procedure in the United States,” an Austin American-Statesman editorial says. It adds that as long as it remains legal, abortion “rightfully is among the medical procedures on which your tax dollars can be spent, whether you like it or not…

Senate Dems Work To Solidify 60 Votes For Health Reform Bill As Abortion, Other Issues Fracture Caucus

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) works to gain the support of the 60 senators needed to advance the chamber’s health reform bill, President Obama on Monday met with Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) to discuss the legislation’s handling of abortion coverage, the AP/Boston Globe reports. Casey, who opposes abortion rights, has been trying to negotiate a compromise on the issue with Sen…

Missouri Antiabortion-Rights Group Files Lawsuit Against State Officials Over Proposed Ballot Initiatives

The Missouri Roundtable for Life on Thursday filed a lawsuit in federal court that accuses two Democratic state officials of plotting to block proposed ballot initiatives seeking to prevent public funds from being allocated to abortion services and certain types of human embryonic stem cell research, the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports…

Abortion Negotiations Continue In Senate Health Reform Debate

Over the weekend, Senate Democrats continued efforts to reach an agreement on abortion coverage under the chamber’s health care reform bill after Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said he would not support the measure without additional restrictions, the New York Times’ “Prescriptions” reports. The Senate recently rejected an amendment proposed by Nelson and Sen…

Sen. Landrieu Criticized By Abortion Opponents For Health Care Reform Vote

Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) recent vote to reject an amendment to the Senate health reform bill that would have prohibited coverage of abortion services in any health plan insuring people who receive federal subsidies has brought renewed attention to an issue that has haunted her political career, the AP/Cleveland Plain Dealer reports…

Baltimore Sun Opinion Piece Argues For Abortion Coverage Under Health Reform

In a Baltimore Sun opinion piece, Dana Weinstein describes her experience learning that her seven-and-one-half-month-old fetus had an irreparable brain deformity…

Calif. City Sends Coat Hangers To Lawmakers Who Support Abortion Rights But Voted For Stupak Amendment

The City Council in Berkeley, Calif., recently mailed coat hangers and protest letters to 20 members of the U.S. House who voted for an antiabortion rights amendment to the chamber’s health care reform bill (HR 3962) but have a history of supporting abortion rights, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich…

House Approves Omnibus Spending Bill; Senate Expected To Vote This Weekend

The House on Thursday approved an omnibus spending package that combines six of the seven remaining appropriations bills for fiscal year 2010 and removes restrictions related to abortion funding and needle-exchange programs in Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reports…

Creating Two Insurance Pools Provides One Way To Address Abortion Coverage, Newsweek Opinion Piece Says

“Fortunately, the point of contention” over abortion coverage in the health care reform debate “is not the thornier one of whether abortions should be legal, but rather how to accommodate both those who want to provide federal coverage and those who refuse to vote to earmark government funds to do so,” Al Lewis, author and economy expert, writes in a Newsweek opinion piece…