Sen. Nelson rejects abortion compromise

Reuters: "Democratic hopes for passing a broad healthcare overhaul in the U.S. Senate by Christmas took a hit on Thursday when a party holdout, Ben Nelson, rejected a compromise on abortion aimed at winning his vote. ... Democrats have no margin of error -- they control exactly 60 votes and face so far unified Republican opposition. Nelson, an abortion rights opponent, said compromise language designed to strengthen the ban on using federal funds for abortions was not good enough to meet his concerns." Nelson also said he would not "be able to back Democrats on a series of upcoming procedural votes without more changes to the bill." He made these comments to KLIN radio in Lincoln, Neb. (Whitesides and Beech, 12/17). 

The Associated Press: The compromise language "attempts to separate private from public funding for abortion, an approach that Democrats have tried in various ways without winning over anti-abortion groups or Catholic bishops. ... Nelson said abortion wasn't his only concern and he didn't see how the Christmas deadline was achievable. ... Nelson is emerging as a major obstacle — perhaps the only remaining one — since Democrats need his vote to have the 60 necessary to overcome Republican stalling tactics. The abortion language was written by another anti-abortion Democrat, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, among others, and was an attempt to secure Nelson's support for the health care bill while also keeping liberals on board" (Werner, 12/17). 

The New York Times Prescriptions Blog: "The Nebraska Cornhuskers may have just missed out on college football's Bowl Championship Series, but with the Great Health Care Debate of 2009 late in the fourth quarter, the whole game seems to be riding on one of the Huskers' biggest fans: Senator Ben Nelson. Mr. Nelson, who is arguably the most conservative of the Senate's Democrats, has been uncertain about the health care legislation all year long, reminding reporters and colleagues alike that he will not make up his mind until he has gotten a close look at the bill. And given that the bill keeps changing — yet another version of it is expected to be revealed by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, within the next 48 hours — it has not been particularly easy for Mr. Nelson to come to a decision one way or another." His key concerns include provisions related to abortion, efforts to slow Medicare spending, and proposals including new taxes, fees and other mandates. "He said he was opposed to a new long-term care insurance program included in the bill, and that he was skeptical about proposed cuts in payments to nursing homes and for home health care providers." But even with these concerns, he "also described the current state of the health care system as unacceptable. He said that without legislation, some residents of his state would face bankruptcy as a result of medical bills, while others would die as a result of lacking health insurance" (Herszenhorn, 12/17).

USA Today: "Nelson is the only member of the Democratic caucus who says he won't vote for the bill" (12/17).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.