It establishes a national exchange that lumps thousands of insurers together so consumers can compare prices and offers. It has an employer mandate to purchase insurance for companies that employ more than 25 workers. It offers generous subsidies to help business owners with the expense of purchasing insurance for employees. It bars insurance companies from dropping coverage to avoid paying out claims. While it's not as strong as it should be, it also contains a public option.
But for all the good things that the health care bill that the House of Representatives passed contains, it has a major flaw that, if kept, will likely derail efforts at tweaking the nation's health care system.
Over the summer, conservative Republicans, opposed to even the slightest bit of reform, have been telling falsehood after falsehood on just about every piece of the various health care bills. One of the least-credible of these deceptive claims was that if health care reform is passed, federal dollars will go to pay for abortions.
There's been a law known as the Hyde Amendment that has been in effect since 1976 that bans the use of taxpayer money for abortions. Still, the claim refuses to die as people call in to express outrage as something that doesn't have any factual basis to it.
Yet, Democrats gave in anyway. In order to obtain support from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and buy off conservative Democrats so they'd vote for the bill, an agreement was made to let an amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., regarding abortion funding be voted on for inclusion into the bill.
With every Republican voting yes and 64 Democrats joining them, the amendment passed and was added in the bill that passed out of the House of Representatives. Of those in Indiana, only Reps. Visclosky and Carson voted against the amendment.
What the amendment does, however, is not deny the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions, as that was illegal already. What the amendment actually does is make it illegal for anyone to have abortion-related insurance if the insurance provider is part of the national exchange.
Therefore, not only can nobody with insurance pay for an abortion with federal tax dollars, they wouldn't be able to do so with their own money, unless they want to have their insurance coverage canceled.
Whether you agree with the idea of abortion, it's a legal medical procedure, and this amendment would make it much more difficult to obtain this procedure. It's the most blatant assault on the reproductive rights of women in three decades, and it was approved because the pro-choice party's squabbling amongst themselves allowed anti-choicers to shove in a poison pill.
Many House liberals and progressives have vowed to vote against any final health care bill that contains the amendment, and rightfully so. Several conservative Democrats have stated that the amendment is crucial to their support for the final bill. Therefore, it appears that another battle to decide who holds the power in the Democratic Party is coming.
Conservative Democrats like to point out that the progressives need their votes to pass their agenda, which is true. But what the Blue Dogs need to remember is this: If health care reform falls apart because of their attempts to restrict reproductive rights to women, they're taking a major gamble.
They were elected because they ran on reforming the nation's health care system, not on restricting rights that women have had for almost four decades. With intellectual featherweights like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Mike Pence running the Republican Party, the Democrats are going to remain in power as long as they push through what they campaigned on.
If Democrats fail to follow through and begin losing seats, it's important for them to realize who loses their seats first. It's not liberals from California and the Northeast, but Democrats in swing states like Indiana.
So this goes to Indiana's Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill, who voted for this restrictive amendment. If you want to keep your job, don't make the reform about denying women's rights. Make it about health care. Give your supporters a reason to support you next year, or else we'll send you packing and find someone else who will.
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