Uh Oh: Democrats Vote Down Abortion Amendment To Health Care Bill

Flash back to the health care bill passing in the House. The key to that narrow, 5-vote victory for Democrats was the now-infamous Stupak amendment which banned federal funding for abortion. Without that amendment a handful of House Democrats (10 – 20) wouldn’t have voted for the bill. More than enough to kill it.
Now flash forward to today’s vote in the Senate to kill an amendment similar to the one in the House offered by Senator Ben Nelson.

The Senate just voted to table Sen. Ben Nelson’s abortion amendment to the health care bill, effectively killing it and forcing Nelson’s hand on his threat to filibuster the bill if the restrictions on abortion coverage were not included.
The problem is Nelson holds all the cards. So assuming Nelson is unyielding on his filibuster threat, which seems like a reasonable assumption at this point, that means the Democrats need a GOP senator to get to 60.

And that’s not the only hurdle. Other Senators (such as North Dakota’s own Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan both of whom voted for this amendment) are under heavy pressure from constituents not just to kill this health care bill but also to oppose any abortion funding within it. A high-profile abortion battle isn’t going to make them more likely to vote for this bill, and Democrat leadership arm-twisting might not be limited to trying to muscle a Republican across the aisle. They may have to worry about keeping all their own people on their side of the aisle as well.
And there’s another hurdle too. If this bill emerges from the Senate without language similar to the Stupak amendment the House Democrats who voted for the original passage of the bill only based on the existence of that amendment aren’t likely to vote for a reconciled Senate version that doesn’t include it. And if Democrats fail that vote it can’t go to Obama for signature.
This may be the thread that ultimately unravels Democrat efforts for government health care.