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Are Democrats Serious About Passing Health Care?

by Charlie Spiering

The only result of President Obama’s health care summit last week was that it succeeded in bringing the health care reform bill back into the national conversation. As Democratic leaders once again turn to their party to build support for the health care bill, Americans are wondering the same thing that they wondered last Christmas. Can Democrats really pass it?

White House aides suggested Sunday that they would be able to secure enough votes in the House to pass the measure, but the proof is unclear. Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak noted earlier last week that 15-20 House members could not vote for the bill, unless abortion restrictions found in the House version were restored. Other moderate Democrats are reportedly worried about their political future due to the unpopularity of the current measure. 

All in all, the answer is “not likely,” as the bill is very similar to the Senate version that has sat in congressional limbo, waiting for an up or down vote.

In order to move forward, President Obama recently lumped the House and Senate versions together proclaiming that the “new” bill should be considered as “the best of both bills.” The bill, however, still has the problems of the Senate version that barely cleared the 60 vote hurdle in last Christmas.

Now that Scott Brown has cost Democrats their 60 vote majority in the Senate, party leadership is suggesting the use of reconciliation, a controversial legislative shortcut to pass the bill. Even if Senate Democrats succeeded with this move, however, the House has yet to regroup enough lawmakers in support of the measure to hold a vote. 

And as it was last year, abortion will be at the heart of the matter.

Last fall, the House version of the bill passed 220-215. That vote depended on over 20 pro-life House Democrats. Led by pro-life Democrat Bart Stupak, they refused to vote for the health care reform bill until Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed a vote on the tough abortion restrictions detailed in the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. In the end, 64 Democrats voted for the restrictions, and the Stupak Amendment passed.

Despite the intense debate that abortion sparked in the House last year – putting the entire health bill in jeopardy – President Obama has remained mostly silent on the issue as he pushes Congress to resume work on passing a bill. Not only does the president’s new proposal not include Stupak’s language on abortion, but as the meticulous National Right to Life Committee notes, the measure in fact includes several pro-abortion provisions.

Congressman John Boehner noted during the health summit that the bill would upset the precedent set by the Hyde Amendment regarding taxpayer funding of abortions, saying, “This bill that we have before us – and there was no reference to that issue in your outline, Mr. President – for the first time in 30 years, allows for the taxpayer funding of abortions.”

Pelosi denied Boehner’s statement, proving that the Stupak amendment she once included in the health care bill to satisfy pro-life representatives was a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s a prescription Democrats should consider taking again if they want to pass the Obama-led legislation. 

Many in Washington think Obama expects the current measure to fail and has already drawn up a limited replacement bill. If the current bill fails, however, it will be a humiliating defeat for the White House.

This week, Obama plans to announce a path forward, and Americans will be watching. Will he step away from comprehensive reform and promote a more modest plan? Unless important concessions are made regarding abortion, it is unlikely that the current bill will pass, which begs the question: If Democratic leaders won’t make changes on funding abortion, how serious are they about passing the current bill? 

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(The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.)