Yesterday, Senate Democrats announced they had 60 votes to pass their health care reform bill. One of the central issues that was revised in order to get the support of Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) was over abortion. And the compromise didn't make those supporting and against abortion rights happy.
Here's how the Washington Post describes the change, "Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in the insurance exchanges the bill would set up. The exchanges are designed to serve individuals who lack coverage through their jobs, with most receiving federal subsidies to buy insurance. Enrollees in plans that cover abortion procedures would pay with separate checks -- one for abortion, one for any other health-care services." This is a "softer" version of the House's Stupak amendment, which would "forbid any insurer in the exchange 'to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion.'"
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Organization for Women, Naral Pro-Choice America and the National Women’s Law Center all denounced the Senate's bill (NOW called it "cruelly over-compromised legislation"), while the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Right to Life Committee also announced their opposition (the USCCB's spokesman said, "This bill should not be supported in its current form because it would allow federal money to go to health insurance plans that cover elective abortions").
The WaPo has a good infographic showing how the Senate bill compares to the House bill: For instance, the House bill is $1.052 trillion vs. the Senate's at $871 billion, but the House would leave only 17 million uninsured while the Senate plan leaves 23 million uninsured (currently there are 54 million uninsured Americans).
