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<DIV>- FOXNews.com
<P class=publish-date> - November 15, 2009</P>
<H1>Axelrod Signals Obama Will Try to Strip Abortion <SPAN
class=051474823-16112009>Restrictions</SPAN> From Health Care Bill</H1>
<P class=deck><SPAN class=dateline></SPAN>
<P>The amendment, authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., went beyond preventing
the proposed government-run plan from covering abortion to restrict federal
subsidies from going toward private plans that offer abortion
coverage. David Axelrod says the amendment changes the 'status quo,'
something the president cannot abide. </P>
<P></P>
<DIV class="span-5 last right">
<DIV class="ad dc" id=frame1-300x250_336x280><FONT size=5>White House Senior
Adviser David Axelrod suggested Sunday that President Obama will intervene to
make sure a controversial amendment restricting federal funding for abortion
coverage is stripped from final health care reform
legislation. </FONT></DIV></DIV>
<P><FONT size=5>In doing so, the president would be heeding the call of
<U>abortion rights supporters like Planned Parenthood that have called the White
House their "strongest weapon" in keeping such restrictions out of the
bill</U>. </FONT></P>
<P>The abortion amendment was tacked on to the House health care bill and was a
key factor in securing the votes of moderate Democrats before the bill was
approved by a narrow margin last weekend. The amendment, authored by Rep. Bart
Stupak, D-Mich., went beyond preventing the proposed government-run plan from
covering abortion to restrict federal subsidies from going toward private plans
that offer abortion coverage. </P>
<P>Axelrod said in an interview Sunday that the amendment changes the "status
quo," something the president cannot abide. </P>
<P>"The president has said repeatedly, and he said in his speech to Congress,
that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it
relates to the issue of abortion," Axelrod said. "This shouldn't be a debate
about abortion. And he's going to work with Senate and the House to try and
ensure that at the end of the day, the status quo is not changed ... I believe
that there are discussions ongoing to how to adjust it accordingly." </P>
<P>Axelrod said the president believes that issue, as well as the ongoing
dispute over what kind of government-run insurance plan, if any, should be
included in the overhaul, "can and will be worked through before it reaches his
desk." </P>
<P>Axelrod spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." </P>
<P>The president already said last week that he did not support the
amendment. </P>
<P>"I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not
an abortion bill. And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has
been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to
subsidize abortions," Obama told ABC News on Monday. "And I want to make sure
that the provision that emerges meets that test -- that we are not in some way
sneaking in funding for abortions, but on the other hand that we're not
restricting women's insurance choices." </P>
<P><FONT size=5>Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told "Fox News
Sunday" that the American people do not want any taxpayer money going toward
abortion, as he gloated over how long the Senate could potentially hold up the
health care bill. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=5>"I think it would be very difficult to pass a bill that, in
effect, either directly or indirectly provided tax money to pay for abortions,"
McConnell said. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=5>The timetable for Senate action on health care has been thrown
into question, though Axelrod said the White House still wants to "get it done"
this year. McConnell said "delay" will be a hallmark of the Senate process going
forward. He complained that the current bill would raise taxes and cut Medicare,
an allegation that was backed up by a Washington Post article Sunday that showed
the agency administering Medicare and Medicaid found that a proposed $500
billion in Medicare cuts would in turn cut benefits for
seniors. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=5>"There will be a lot of amendments over a lot of weeks,"
McConnell said. "I mean, the Senate is not the House. You saw in the House three
votes and it was over in one day. Look, we spent four weeks on a farm bill in
the last Congress, eight weeks on an energy bill earlier this decade. This will
be on the floor for quite a long time. I think it ought to be on the floor at
least as long as it's been in Harry Reid's
office."</FONT></P></DIV></BODY>
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