Senate Rejects Abortion Restrictions In Healthcare Bill

The US Senate, by a margin of 54 to 45, struck down Senator Ben Nelson's (D) amendment to the healthcare reform bill currently under debate, that would have restricted women's access to abortions even more than the Stupak Amendment included in the House version of the bill.

Perhaps in a nod to liberal Senate Democrats who have been forced to jettison the heavily compromised remnants of the public health insurance option, the Nelson amendment was permanently tabled.

Many speculate that foes of healthcare reform have been intentionally using the contentious abortion debate as a means to derail the momentum for reform of a healthcare system that is an embarassment compared to the rest of the developed world. And it seems those folks may be right.

By inserting the abortion debate into the healthcare debate, the religious right and those representatives in the pocket of the insurance lobby have successfully brandished the abortion issue, forcing more compromise on the real elements of reform the bills may have contained. So by inserting the abortion issue, they have been able to exact concessions on such critical cost containment measures as the Public Option.