Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) “is ‘highly unlikely’ to support a health bill unless it contained abortion provisions similar to those which passed the House,” The Hill reports.
A spokesman for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said the centrist Democrat was pleased by the amendment, offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), which included in the House health reform legislation to restrict federal funding for abortions.
"Senator Nelson is strongly pro-life and was pleased the Stupak amendment passed with such strong support," said Nelson spokesman Jake Thompson. "He believes that no federal money—including subsidies or tax credits–should be used to buy insurance coverage for abortion."
Thompson cautioned as well that Senate Democratic leaders may lose Nelson’s support, which they have assiduously courted, without a provision in the Senate bill similar to the Stupak amendment.
"This is a very important issue to Senator Nelson and it is highly unlikely he would support a bill that doesn’t clearly prohibit federal dollars from going to abortion," Thompson said.
(credit image – associated press)
