The Senate is continuing to work on and debate its version of the health care reform legislation now before Congress. It voted down a pro-life amendment on Dec. 8 that would have prevented federal funding of abortion through the new programs created by the bill.
The Senate's one pro-life Democrat, Ben Nelson, is threatening to oppose the bill unless the pro-life abortion funding language is added. Without his vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid may not have enough votes to pass the bill out of the Senate. So this week he offered Nelson a phony "compromise" amendment, but Nelson and pro-life organizations have already rejected it because it still allows federal funding of health plans that cover abortion.
Reid wants to push the bill through by Christmas. Contact Nelson to show your support and urge him to continue opposing any bill that includes abortion funding. Also continue to contact your own senators, urging them to oppose the bill unless it is amended not just to exclude abortion funding, but also to prevent the rationing of care -- a second major pro-life concern regarding the current legislation.
Update: National Right to Life (NRLC) explains what is wrong with the abortion funding "compromise" Sen. Nelson has rightly rejected. NRLC writes that "the Nelson-Hatch (Stupak-Pitts) language is the only acceptable solution to the far-reaching pro-abortion problems in the Reid bill."
