Washington D.C., Mar 12, 2010 / 16:33 pm
Pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak remains “optimistic” about a solution to disputed abortion restrictions in the new health care bill despite reports that negotiations have ended, a spokeswoman says. The Congressman has also said that Democratic leaders told him they want the federal government to pay for abortions.
Some pro-life Democrats say the language in the Senate health care reform bill is not strict enough to prevent taxpayer dollars from contributing to money that might be used to subsidize abortions.
Democratic leaders on Thursday said that they can’t resolve the dispute using budget reconciliation rules. Instead, they hope that only a few House Democrats who voted for the health care package will oppose the Senate version because of abortion.
Many House Democrats who oppose abortion are “either satisfied enough with the Senate provision, or they decide that that's as much as they're going to get and they don't want to defeat health care," claimed Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to the AP.