Abortion is a Red Herring in the Health Care Debate
Yesterday the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee voted 13-10 for health care reform. The vote was predictably split along party lines, and Republicans voted unanimously against the health care reform package, even though Republicans had offered over 100 amendments to the bill. I’m sure each of the Republican members of the HELP committee will have several reasons for voting against the health care reform bill. But one thing is absolutely clear – GOP members were never going to vote for health care reform. Their efforts to pin this on abortion are just a red herring, an easy excuse for rejecting health care coverage for all Americans.
Today the House will begin amending and debating their version of the health care bill. GOP members are also unlikely to vote for it in the House. So don’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors. Each time the Republicans bring up abortion, they’re simply trying to split the Democratic vote – the Republicans were never going to support health care reform, with or without abortion coverage.
1Mrs. Mastro
wrote on 16 July 2009 at 6:54
ABSOLUTELY TRUE! You are dead on with this! I have long admired Obama’s attempts to bring moderate republicans on board with policy decisions, etc. But there is no time like the present for calling their bluff and going through with an agenda item!
The repugnants have offered another red herring as well — the that a public option will mean that individual Americans lose control of their health care decisions and that such decisions will be turned over to bean counting bureaucrats is obviously totally ridiculous!
Anyone who has tried to get a certain medication or who has had a specialist referral approved (or denied) in the last decade knows that health care decisions are not made by patients and doctors NOW. They are made by bean counters!
Having a public option will at least ensure that the bean counters in charge are not working for a corporation that has to post billion dollar profits!