[Apologetics] Axelrod Signals Obama Will Try to Strip Abortion Restrictions From Health Care Bill

[Art Kelly]

- FOXNews.com 

 - November 15, 2009


Axelrod Signals Obama Will Try to Strip Abortion Restrictions From
Health Care Bill


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. 

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. 

In doing so, the president would be heeding the call of abortion rights
supporters like Planned Parenthood that have called the White House
their "strongest weapon" in keeping such restrictions out of the bill. 

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. 

Axelrod said in an interview Sunday that the amendment changes the
"status quo," something the president cannot abide. 

"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." 

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." 

Axelrod spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." 

The president already said last week that he did not support the
amendment. 

"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." 

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. 

"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. 

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. 

"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."




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