Ben Nelson Wants Anti-Abortion Measures in Senate Health Bill

[Le Taz Hot]

Source: Huffington Post

"WASHINGTON — Abortion opponents in the Senate want tough restrictions in the health care overhaul bill, similar to the limits passed by the House this past weekend.

The issue could roil an already shaky Democratic effort to pass a health care bill by year's end for President Barack Obama.

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska said Monday it's highly unlikely he would support a bill that doesn't clearly prohibit federal dollars from going to pay for abortions. His spokesman said Nelson is weighing options, including offering an amendment similar to the one passed by the House."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/ben-nelson-wan...

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Ben Nelson (D/R-Misogynist)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. F Ben Nelson.

[dhpgetsit]

2. I want all the women in Nelson's family knocked up

by the same homeless man.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. One shameless kick for WOMEN

and maybe people from Nebraska to try and primary this MF out.

[still_one]

4. This shit has got to stop. Obama has got do his job, and act like LB, and start cracking heads

This bill ISN'T about abortion nelson, it is about healthcare. The hyde amendment has all ready done enough damage.

Nelson should be told in no uncertain terms, support the healthcare bill, or you will get no support for re-election from the DNC or have any of your states projects brought up in Congress. You either are a team player, or move out of the way

[madrchsod]

7. if obama had the poilitical power that lbj did

we would have medicare for everyone by this time next year. the problem is no one is afraid of obama and reid and the insurance companies have bought off the senate.

[still_one]

8. That's because he has been more interested in "bipartisanship". It is time he does the

job he was elected to do

[snake in the grass]

17. It will never happen.

Obama wants to be loved. Meanwhile, what's left of the country after W.'s tenure is up for grabs by the corporations and the religiously insane. Makes me proud!

[still_one]

22. If Obama wants to be "loved" by everyone, it may turn out that he is loved by no one /nt

[HillbillyBob]

5. We need to get a handle on birth rates

WTF is wrong with these assholes? is it like "lets just make poor or other wise disadvantaged, too young, not married whatever the ladys case is harder by making them have a damaged or unwanted baby?

The damned insurance will pay for viagra but not contraception.
I have known some women that had abortions, it was not a lightly made decision, the ones i knew had been using contraception, one was raped and took meds that she HAD to take, but would have pretty much assured a very damaged baby and she was only about 14 at the time should she had been made to have and raise a baby that would guarenteed be messed up for life and need very very expensive care, another one had cystic fibroids and the baby was in her tubes and would not likely have lived to full term so she should have had her body messed up? (and they had no insurance and both had been outsourced/downsized.

[ej510]

6. Obama won't do a damn thing, but make a comment and move on.

[Zodiak]

9. And if he gets his way, say goodbye to reproductive rights

Rights you have on paper but cannot afford with your wallet.

And it won't be removed in conference if it is in BOTH BILLS.

Wow...those conservadems sure are destructive in the clutch, as many DUers have been predicting for years and years and years.

[HillbillyBob]

10. my partner said looks like a poison pill to kill it altogether

I think he may be right.

and I am sick of the I dont want to help pay for anothers health care bullshit too.

[Zodiak]

11. That's Reagan talking

Americans that do not want to help other Americans less fortunate than they is classic Reagan economic policy. It is pervasive, entrenched, and frankly what makes Americans "ugly" to the rest of the world.

[tavalon]

13. If that is your litmus test

reproductive rights have already left the station. People can't find providers in many places at any price and most have to pay the expense out of pocket if they do find a provider.

[Zodiak]

15. And your thesis is?

For one, I made no mention of litmus tests, so I have know idea where that strawman came from. Conservadems sucks for a plethora of reasons; there is no litmus test needed for them. They are against ANYTHING even remotely progressive, which makes them my political enemy.

Is your thesis that things are already this way, so what Nelson is doing is just fine? Hard to say with one-line drive-bys, but if that is the case, then you are wrong. This amendment will codify into law some of the conditions that you cite (and hopefully lament) as organically happening.

Or is your thesis that I should not be lamenting our party selling us out because they have long ago? If that is the case, I agree with you, but there are many, many others on this board that refuse to see that. My post is for them.

[tavalon]

18. It's not as complicated as all that

I'm actually thrilled that Stupid Stupak is getting a shitstorm. It is as it should be. I was just commenting on the fact that few people seem to care that the right wing has managed their goal of making abortion very difficult to get. They've been quietly working behind the scenes since Roe vs. Wade and few people have even noticed. But Stupid comes along and suddenly a hornets nest of rage is let loose. But I'm happy it's happened, even if it is a bit late.

[Zodiak]

25. Ah...in that case it is the last interpretation you meant

And as I said, I agree with you....and I do agree that the backlash is a good thing.

[atreides1]

23. And it won't be removed in conference if it is in BOTH BILLS.

But so many here on DU insist that this amendment will be removed in conference. They can't be wrong, can they?

[Zodiak]

27. From what I understand, conferences are there to resolve differences between bills

So if there is no difference between the bills, the conference is not going to resolve it.

I sure would like to be proven wrong on this.

[tavalon]

12. Ben Nelson wants a shitstorm to come down on his head

He just doesn't want Stupak to have all the fun.

[ej510]

14. We have to electing republicans in our party.

It may require the repukes to finish the job, but then we could elect liberals.

[snake in the grass]

16. Of course he does!

I wouldn't have expected anything else, bless his precious heart!

[Jefferson23]

19. This guy is nauseating, he can't tell his constituents that if they

don't support abortion, DON"T have one..but Roe vs Wade is the law in the US.

[Kitsune]

20. Why do we have misogynistic troglodytes like this in our party? Isn't this the Republican schtick?

I mean, our party platform is pro-choice, isn't it? Or am I just really, really delusional, expecting Democratic policy from someone with a D next to their name?

[JDPriestly]

21. Ben Nelson just wants to sabotage the bill.

[apnu]

24. ... and I love the anti-choice headline to boot. No editorial agenda there... no none at all.

[Posteritatis]

26. What would you call provisions meant to restrict access? Pro-abortion? (nt)

[boppers]

28. The house measure doesn't restrict access, and doesn't expand access.

It preserves the status quo.

I don't think the status quo is right, but portraying it as restricting access, that had never existed, is misleading.

[SagefemmeCollective]

29. Really infuriating....here are more of the Nelsonites:

MARK PRYOR - The junior senator from Arkansas easily won re-election last year and is popular at home, easing his immediate political concerns about tough healthcare votes.

BLANCHE LINCOLN - She has a potentially tough re-election fight next year, giving her incentive to avoid votes that could cause political heartburn at home in conservative Arkansas.

JOE LIEBERMAN - An independent who caucuses with Democrats, he has not been a reliable vote for the party since his support for the Iraq war led to his defeat in the 2006 Democratic Senate primary.

MARY LANDRIEU - The third-term senator says she is concerned about the Senate's public option plan but is amenable to a compromise, particularly one involving Snowe's trigger idea. She won re-election in conservative Louisiana last year despite being heavily targeted by Republicans.

EVAN BAYH - Bayh says he is focused on restraining healthcare costs for working families under the bill and bringing down its costs, rather than the battle over the public insurance option.