by Andrea Seabrook
National Public RadioNovember 9, 2009
The health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend was almost scuttled by one issue: abortion.
Anti-abortion Democrats and their leaders tried unsuccessfully to come to agreement about abortion language before debate began.
Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) to offer an amendment on the floor to restrict federal funding for abortion services, even in private health insurance plans. The vote was 240-194.
Anti-abortion groups say this only codifies current law, which already bans federal funding for abortion. "Our amendment does one very simple thing," Stupak said on the floor. "It applies the Hyde amendment — which bars federal funding for abortion except in the case of rape, incest or the life of the mother — to the health care bill."
Abortion rights advocates argued that the Stupak amendment expands the ban well beyond the language in the Hyde amendment, passed in 1976. Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, a leader among abortion rights lawmakers, warned that if enacted, "This amendment will be the greatest restriction on a woman's right to choose to pass in our careers."
To get a clearer picture of what the Stupak amendment would do, it helps to take it out of context and just look at the language. Here's what it says:...
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