Here's another tea leaf to read on the upcoming health-care reform vote: Rep. Tom Perriello, whom you may know, voted for health-care reform in the original health bill only after supporting the Stupak Amendment, which would have drastically reduced women's access to reproductive health care beyond the status quo of the Hyde Amendment. Perriello, a devout Catholic, had pledged, along with several other members of Congress, not to vote for any bill that provides federal funding for abortion. With many of these members leery of the Senate bill's language on abortion, people have worried that this bloc would vote against final passage on the health-care bill. But here's the congressman from Virginia's 5th District:
As health care experts and pro-life leaders agree, the abortion language in the Senate bill upholds the Hyde Amendment standard. The Senate health care bill prevents federal taxpayer dollars from funding abortions, as the Catholic Hospital Association and legal experts have recently stated and as my own research has confirmed.
Furthermore, several key yet unadvertised provisions of the bill are likely to reduce the number of abortions in this country in ways that move beyond politics toward a real impact on the culture of life in our country, such as those that provide $250 million for programs to support vulnerable pregnant women and increase the adoption tax credit, also making it refundable, so that lower income families can access it fully.
... I have plenty of serious problems with the Senate bill and, until I see the final language, I cannot take a position on final passage. But the existing language on abortion in the current Senate bill meets the pledge I made to ensure no federal funding for abortion in this health care bill.
Looks like Perriello is opening the door for other members who are concerned about the language on abortion to follow his lead in voting for the bill. It makes House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's decision not to negotiate on that issue look pretty smart.
-- Tim Fernholz
