BERGEN COUNTY RIGHT TO LIFE

House Close to Votes for Pro-Abortion Health Care

House leaders triumphantly announced yesterday that they are close to having enough votes to approve a health care bill with a public option that includes abortion funding.

However, the Senate is another story as lawmakers shy away from supporting the government option that expands abortion funding further.

As LifeNews.com reported on 10/21, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked her top lieutenants to conduct a vote count to determine where members of the party stand on HR 3200, which pro-life groups oppose. The results came back showing 210 of the 218 lawmakers needed to support the pro-abortion bill are on board.

However, the Senate is a different ball game entirely because support for a bill with the public option is much weaker.

As the Associated Press notes in a new story today, "Obama and Democratic leaders have modest leverage over several pivotal Senate Democrats who are more concerned about their next election or feel they have little to lose by opposing their party`s hierarchy." Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas is one such senator who may not provide Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid the vote he needs from her to get to the 60-vote margin necessary to stop a filibuster.