Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who earlier had said he would oppose the Senate health care bill without his amendment providing Hyde-amendment restrictions on government funding of abortion, appeared to soften his stance following the amendment’s failure.
"It makes it harder to be supportive. We’ll see what happens," he said, according to Reuters. Because Democrats are struggling to find the minimum number of votes to block a GOP filibuster, Nelson’s vote has come to be seen as a possible deal breaker for the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said prior to the amendment vote that he was willing to keep working with Nelson, though Nelson had indicated he was not willing to compromise on the abortion issue.
In addition, Reid announced last night that Democrats have reached a "broad agreement" concerning the controversial public health insurance option in the health care overhaul, possibly easing passage of a bill pro-life leaders have deemed unacceptable on various counts. However, many senators appear to be awaiting a report from the Congressional Budget Office before committing to Reid’s plan.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who had voiced unequivocal opposition to a public option, said he "look[s] forward to analyzing the details" of the agreement following the budget office review, according to MSNBC.
Democrat leaders face a harrowing tightrope walk in their quest to pass the bill, as several moderate Democrat senators expressed dissatisfaction with the bill’s government-run health insurance option, while liberal Democrats vowed to kill the whole measure without the option.
In a press conference Tuesday night, Reid expressed confidence in a "broad agreement" on the public option, though he offered few details.
If the Senate passes the bill, some analysts speculate that Democrats will opt to send the Senate version directly to the House for a vote before going to President Obama’s desk, skipping the usual conference committee in which the House and Senate versions of the bill would have been merged.
The Senate had voted 54-45 earlier Tuesday evening to table the Nelson/Hatch/Casey amendment, which would have applied Hyde-amendment restrictions on federal funding of abortion to the health care overhaul.
Following the Nelson amendment’s defeat, National Right to Life Committee legislative director Douglas Johnson noted that "the vote on cloture on the bill itself will become the key vote on whether to put the federal government into the abortion business."
Besides the lack of Hyde-amendment protections, there remain several aspects of the Senate bill that pro-life leaders have decried as unacceptable, including: an amendment allowing for abortion coverage to be mandated in insurance plans; broader funding for explicit sex education; an expanded venue for rationing of health care; and a lack of broad conscience protections for health care workers.
Conservatives are also united against the bill’s massive price tag, unfunded mandates burdening state budgets, and sweeping government expansion.
