Senate Panel Rejects Tightening of Abortion Restrictions

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/health/policy/01health.html?_r=1&hp

Senate Panel Rejects Tightening of Abortion Restrictions

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: September 30, 2009


WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday rejected a Republican proposal to tighten restrictions on abortion under a bill to overhaul the health care system.

The 13-to-10 vote generally followed party lines, with two exceptions. Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, voted for the restrictions. Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, voted against them.

The showdown over abortion came as the committee toiled for a sixth day on the legislation, intended to provide coverage for millions of Americans while slowing the growth of health costs.

Under the bill, the government would help low-and middle-income people buy insurance by providing subsidies in the form of tax credits.

The bill, written by the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, says that no tax credits could be used to pay for abortions except as allowed in the latest appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Service — in case of rape or incest or if the life of a pregnant woman were in danger.

Under the bill, some health plans would cover abortion, and some would not. Private insurance plans that chose to cover abortion would be required to segregate money, taken from private premiums, to cover the procedure.

The amendment, offered Wednesday by Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, would have gone much further. It said that no money provided under the legislation could be used to cover “any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion,” with a few limited exceptions.

Under the proposal, insurers could offer “a separate supplemental policy” to cover abortions. Such policies would have been financed “solely by supplemental premiums paid for by individuals choosing to purchase the policy.”

Even though the bill would require insurers to segregate personal premium payments from government subsidies, Mr. Hatch said, “money is fungible,” and the government should not be subsidizing plans that include coverage of abortion.

Senator Baucus insisted: “This is a health care bill, not an abortion bill. We are not changing current law.”

[orpupilofnature57]

1. They'll do anything to Republicanize this thing, Orrin was one of Shrubs

biggest supporters on invading Iraq ,and Knew children would be slaughtered ,at the expense of the American Lenders ,us.

[RC]

2. Can Senators be recalled?

That embarrassment (Conrad) we have is not representing our state very well.

On edit, answered my own question

How to Recall a U.S. Senator
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The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
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A website or a phone campaign are good ways to get your petition going. Going door-to-door is also an option although it is more time consuming than the other two. This is important since you only have a set number of days to obtain the correct number of signatures—anywhere from 30 to 180 days.
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You will be fighting an uphill battle to recall a U.S. Senator. No member of Congress has ever been recalled in the history of the United States.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2096900_recall-us-senator.html

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Because no one's tax dollars should ever fund anything they personally find morally objectionable.

I mean... except for Wars, and prison cells for non-violent drug offenders.