As if the health care debate couldn't get any worse, it just did. But this new piece of the puzzle could do a lot of good even outside the national health care realm.
The republicans have plans to block the health care bill if it includes coverage for abortion. The big problem with including abortion in the coverage is that it would include tax payers' dollars going toward the procedure - something that republicans, moderate democrats and many Americans do not want. This puts President Obama in a tough situation, since during the election, he promised to support abortion as well as make common ground with those who do not. It will be interesting to see which side he chooses as more information becomes available. He has been saying for months that the health care plan would not support abortions, but there is no concrete answer about what this specifically means.
Obama wants to fix this issue by only allowing money from private sources to pay for abortions, such as the insured's premiums or state funds. This model is already used in some Medicaid programs and it works just fine. But now, if the bill does succeed in blocking abortion coverage, it will lead other private insurance companies that already cover abortion through the use of federal subsidies to stop covering it.
This is an opportunity to get rid of insurance-covered abortions, which will hopefully end in fewer abortions. Republicans currently have a lot of support behind the bill blocking abortion and will hopefully be able to succeed. There is a 30-year precedent that prohibits federal tax dollars from covering abortion that they have to rely on. Such a precedent can be very influential in forming opinions. If it wasn't allowed then, why should it be allowed now?
Obama will be hard-pressed to find a compromise that will placate both supporters and non-supporters. If he tries to pass the bill with abortion coverage, it would most likely be shot down and the health care bill would never be passed at all. But then if he drops the abortion plans, he will be breaking his campaign promises as a pro-choice supporter. He has already fallen back on Bush's previous decisions regarding the Patriot Act with regard to several parts that need to be reauthorized. If he decides to block the abortion coverage, he could be blamed for not fulfilling his promises again. For someone Obama denounced so vehemently and so often, it is interesting to see him agree with Bush on such contested issues. This could be a sign of the rest of his presidency and should be quite scary for Obama supporters.
While abortion will still be very much legal, the changing insurance policies could result in fewer abortions because of the price difference. Hopefully, republicans can gather enough support to keep up their momentum and pull through. While some may think it is not fair to take away abortion from those who cannot afford it, it is also not fair for the tax dollars to go toward a procedure they do not believe in.
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