Senators Reject Abortion Measure

Senator Ben Nelson's attempt to restrict abortions among women receiving any form of health care aid from the government was defeated by a vote of 54-45.

The amendment to President Obama's health reform bill was pushed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and other antiabortion groups.

In addition to banning payments for termination procedures to those on public plans, Nelson wanted to restrict women even if they purchased private insurance after receiving government subsidies. That had abortion-rights supporters saying the measure was going way beyond a decades-old federal policy that restricts abortions for people enrolled in Medicaid.

"Women have been able to utilize their own private funds in order to get a legal procedure," California Senator Barbara Boxer said on the Senate floor during today's debate. "Never has anyone, to my knowledge, on either side of the aisle said she could not get access to insurance to cover the whole range of legal reproductive health care if she uses her own funds. This amendment takes us way back."

The subsidies are a key part of health reform because bills in both the House and Senate require every American to purchase health insurance. Low-income workers would be offered subsidies to help pay for private insurance.

Medicaid, the fed's health insurance plan for the poor, pays for abortions only in the cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. On the other hand, major insurers like Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. usually cover abortions. Only about 13 percent of the more than 1 million women who get abortions every year submit insurance claims for the procedures, according to a 2003 Guttmacher Institute study.

The Nelson amendment mirrored restrictions included in the House bill, which passed last month. Since the two chambers will have to merge their bills at some point, we can expect the abortion debate to come up again. Then again, did we think the abortion issue was going to go away?