House Dems Discuss Abortion, Other Non-Budget Issues While Awaiting CBO Score on Health Reform

March 11, 2010 — On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said lawmakers are focusing on resolving issues that fall outside the scope of the budget reconciliation bill -- legislation Democrats are drafting that would include changes to the Senate health reform bill (HR 3590), CQ Today reports. While Democrats are waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to score the various provisions in the budget reconciliation bill, lawmakers are "meeting on an ongoing basis to discuss non-CBO issues," she said. She added that she did not know when the CBO score would be available. According to CQ Today, the list of non-CBO issues "presumably" includes the matter of abortion-coverage language (Adams, CQ Today, 3/10).

Abortion coverage is not likely to be included in the budget reconciliation bill because procedural rules for using the budget reconciliation process do not allow inclusion of provisions that do not have a budgetary impact (Women's Health Policy Report, 3/10). Because budget reconciliation bills require only a simple majority, the process effectively shields it from a filibuster in the Senate.

Under the strategy being discussed, House Democrats are expected to try to approve the health care reform bill passed by the Senate in December. Both chambers would then pass the budget reconciliation bill, which would include changes to the Senate health care reform bill (Werner, AP/Yahoo! News, 3/11).

The Senate bill would allow health plans that receive government subsidies to offer abortion coverage. To ensure that only private funds are used to pay for abortion coverage, customers would be required to make two monthly payments -- one to pay for abortion coverage and one for everything else. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) is leading some antiabortion-rights lawmakers in a push to include his more restrictive abortion amendment, which is included in the House bill (HR 3962). The amendment would prohibit health plans in the health care exchange receiving federal subsidies from offering abortion coverage.

Stupak claims that there are about one dozen House Democrats -- including James Oberstar (Minn.) and Daniel Lipinski (Ill.) -- who will vote against the Senate bill if the abortion-coverage language is not changed. However, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich) on Tuesday said he believes he can support the Senate bill's approach to abortion coverage, despite his initial opposition to the language.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who voted for the Stupak amendment in the House, said the Senate bill's language is "unacceptable" but stopped short of saying abortion would be the deciding factor in her vote. "I would not easily give over my vote for the bill if they don't fix that," Kaptur said, though she added that she also objects to the Senate bill's approach to costs and other issues.

On Wednesday, Stupak said that he is not sure what an abortion compromise would look like or whether abortion-related changes could be considered under budget reconciliation rules. Stupak added that his next step is to meet with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). Waxman on Tuesday indicated that he and Stupak have discussed the issue of abortion coverage but have not discussed the process of how the Senate bill's language could be changed (Benson, CQ Today, 3/10).

Stupak Primary Challenge Fueled by Abortion Stance

Although Stupak "has never been in serious danger" of losing his congressional seat, some Democrats in his district "are so angry" about his antiabortion efforts in the health reform debate "that he's facing a rare and long-shot primary challenge," the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Stupak's district comprises Michigan's entire Upper Peninsula and a significant area of its Lower Peninsula. The region has a significant Catholic population, and Stupak says his stance on abortion rights "reflects adequately" his constituency's views on abortion rights.

However, according to the AP/Journal-Constitution, the region's views on abortion rights are "mixed," and some critics have accused Stupak of trying to impose his religious beliefs on the larger U.S. population. On Tuesday, Connie Saltonstall -- a former Charlevoix County, Mich., commissioner -- announced that she would challenge Stupak for the Democratic nomination. Saltonstall said that Stupak's priorities are not in line with those of his constituents (Flesher, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/11).

'Rachel Maddow' Reports Only Four to Five House Members Back Stupak

MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Wednesday examined Stupak's claims that about one dozen lawmakers say they will oppose the Senate bill. Maddow reports that she spoke with a senior House leadership aide "whose job is ... to actually fact check what [Stupak] says, to see if he really does have those 12 votes he says he has." Maddow continued that "it turns out when Bart Stupak says 'at least 12,' what he really means is not really 12 at all." According to the senior leadership aide, an informal whip count revealed that no more than four or five House members are willing to support Stupak, Maddow said (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, 3/10).

Kaiser Health News Profiles USCCB's Doerflinger

Richard Doerflinger -- associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities -- "has emerged as a major player in the health care debate, one likely to play a pivotal role in the outcome," Kaiser Health News reports. Doerflinger is leading USCCB's opposition to the Senate bill's abortion-coverage language. Although the Catholic Church has a long history of supporting universal health care, Doerflinger is "sending a clear message: If Democrats want to succeed, they must include the House provision, or something equally restrictive, on abortion," according to KHN.

Some abortion-rights groups have accused Doerflinger and USCCB of using their abortion agenda to derail health care reform. Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, "No one else drew a line in the sand" (Parker, Kaiser Health News, 3/10).