Senate Votes To Cut Off Healthcare Debate

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Senate Votes To Cut Off Healthcare Debate

Special Report - December 21, 2009
At 1:17 A.M. today, two Independents joined 58 Democrats to reach the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and move ahead with a healthcare reform bill that will force taxpayers to fund abortions for the first time. Although all 40 Republicans voted against the motion to invoke cloture, there was little they could do except vote. Earlier in the weekend, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) was persuaded by Democrat colleagues to drop his opposition to taxpayer funded abortion, presumably to save a military base in his state and for other reasons unrelated to the abortion issue. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) also changed his mind and voted for cloture. North Carolina's two Senators split on the vote, with Sen. Richard Burr (R) voting against cloture, and Sen. Kay Hagan (D) voting for it.

It is now anticipated that after several required procedural votes on Tuesday and Wednesday, that the amended bill will have a final vote in the Senate on Christmas Eve. "While almost everyone wants health reform legislation to address some fundamental issues, the insistence of the Senate majority to force all taxpayers to pay for abortions is a shame," said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. "If millions of women are suddenly given access to free abortions, the number of unborn children who are killed will rise dramatically. We can only hope that the House provision for no taxpayer funded abortions will prevail when the bill goes to the House-Senate conference."