Implosion on Health Care Reform and Explosion of Pro-Life Sentiment
by: Doug Carlson - Jan 26, 2010 - comment
A little more than a week ago, the drivers of sweeping health care reform had their sight on crossing the finish line. Now, following a sudden turn of events, a serious roadblock threatens safe passage on their road to what appears to many to be government takeover of health care.
With the Jan. 19 election of Scott Brown (R) to fill the vacated Massachusetts Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy (D), the Senate now has only 59 members, down from 60, willing to go along for the ride to higher costs, strong government control, rationed care, and federal funding of abortion. In Capitol Hill’s game of numbers, that’s significant—significant enough to stall the strongest liberal reform efforts. Senator-elect Brown’s arrival in Washington puts the Senate one vote shy of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster on any closed-door health care reform agreement reached among House and Senate liberals, if the vote falls along party lines.
But those leading the charge toward government takeover of health care seem unlikely to simply abandon a year’s worth of efforts. President Obama is calling on legislators “to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said last week, “There are a lot of different options out there.” And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), while acknowledging she does not have the votes in the House to pass the Senate-approved bill, asserted that “we will move forward.”
Exactly how Congress will move forward has the trio searching for a unified answer. Several options are on the table. Congress could attempt to pass piecemeal reform on areas with broad support, though House liberals decry that as an abandonment of their version of comprehensive reform. Another option receiving greater discussion is for the Senate to make changes to its bill that are amenable to a majority in the House and pass it under a process known as reconciliation. This would require only 51 votes. But that route, some supporters of reform fear, could fuel a renewed uprising among an already outraged public. And it might not settle the question of what to do about federal funding of abortion. Yet a third option being discussed is for the House to pass the Senate bill and send it directly to the president for his signature. Democrats in the House are counting votes right now to see if that is possible.
Abortion, a touchstone issue separating the House and Senate bills, continues to divide but also embolden. Upwards of 60 percent of Americans oppose federal funding of abortion in health care reform. Many of these people across the country have shown tireless resistance to a health care takeover with abortion funding—mass calls shutting down congressional phone systems, e-mails and letters by the millions, overflowing crowds at townhall meetings and tea parties—and deserve tremendous credit for helping to put the brakes on reform.
Reinvigorated by the abortion-in-health-care-reform battles, the pro-life movement descended last week on Washington en masse. According to some estimates, as many as 300,000 people came for the Jan. 22 March for Life, lamenting 37 years of legalized abortion that translates into more than 50 million unborn babies who were denied the opportunity of birth.
One could not help but notice the large numbers of youth and young adults in the crowd. This certainly reflects recent polling by the Knights of Columbus suggesting that 58 percent of those between ages 18 and 29 consider abortion morally wrong, a conviction shared by 60 percent of 30- to 44-year-olds. The strong turnout also is not surprising given that a majority (51 percent) of Americans now consider themselves pro-life, according to a 2009 Gallup poll.
Both the public rejection of a government takeover of health care and the growing pro-life commitment are creating strong resistance to liberal efforts to change the health care system in the nation.
As deal-cutting on health care reform and abortion no doubt persist, liberals would do well to heed the voice of their constituents and stop trying to force their ill-conceived health care plans on the American people. To register your thoughts with your congressman and senators, click here.
Further Learning
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