By Dave Andrusko

The symbolism is hard to miss and contains an important lesson for pro-lifers as well. See if you don't agree and respond with action.

Over the weekend Washington, DC, was pelted with two feet worth of snow, a near-catastrophe for a metropolitan area that often will close schools if there is even a hint of snow and ice. I spent five hours on Sunday digging out our cars and clearing our sidewalk.

Well, the United States Senate has delivered its own blizzard, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." It's a 2,074 page monstrosity, with a 383-page "manager's amendment" tacked on for good measure. Now it's up to us to dig our way out.

Before I borrow from NRLC's Legislative Department keen analysis of Sen. Reid's pro-abortion health care bill, let me first quote from the alert:

"Time is short! Please telephone the offices of your U.S. senators and your U.S. House member. The Washington offices of your representatives can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121."

That timely response on your part is crucial, for although the bill passed one procedural hurdle this morning-–ending debate [invoking cloture] on the Reid manager's amendment-- the legislation now faces two additional 60-vote procedural hurdles later in the week, leading up to a vote on passage of the Reid bill on Christmas eve. (See the end of this TN&V for additional details.)

Most of the attention has been understandably focused on the decision by Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.]. Sen. Nelson's was the crucial 60th vote needed by Reid and his fellow pro-abortionists in the Senate to end the Republican filibuster. Up until this weekend, pro-lifers had hoped that Nelson would not provide that final vote until and unless the pro-abortion components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were fully corrected.

In the end, Nelson embraced abortion language that was acceptable to Senators Reid, Boxer, and Schumer, but completely unacceptable to NRLC and other pro-life organizations, and to Congressman Stupak, author of the NRLC-backed pro-life amendment adopted by the House on November 7.

The intricacies of Reid's pro-abortion proposal are mind-numbing. NRLC's letter to senators (Part Two) lays out pro-life objections in great detail. Let me just summarize a couple of the components.

In that letter, NRLC wrote, "We view a vote for cloture on the amendment as a vote to advance legislation to allow the federal government to subsidize private insurance plans that cover abortion on demand, to oversee multi-state plans that cover elective abortions, and to empower federal officials to mandate that private health plans cover abortions even if they do not accept subsidized enrollees." From a pro-life perspective, it can't get much worse than that.

To mention just a couple of specifics, "The abortion-related language violates the principles of the Hyde Amendment by requiring the federal government to pay premiums for private health plans that will cover any or all abortions."

Needless to say, Reid buries this reversal of long-standing federal policy in gobbledygook.

At the heart of this say-one-thing-do-another is a bogus "firewall" between federal funds and private funds, which is just a bookkeeping gambit. This is supposed to assure the American public (which is with us on this). But the stark contrasts with the Stupak-Pitts Amendment show us that Reid's assurances are all for show.

For example, Reid's firewall remains in place only so long as the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services continues to contain the Hyde Amendment. When/if it doesn't, insurers could pay for elective abortions with the federal subsidies without even bookkeeping requirements. (Pro-abortionists loathe the Hyde Amendment which is responsible for saving the lives of between one million and two million unborn babies.

NRLC wrote senators, "This is in stark contrast with the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which would permanently prohibit the federal subsidies from paying any part of the premium of a plan that covers elective abortions (while explicitly affirming that insurers may sell, and persons may buy through the Exchanges, plans that cover any or all abortions as long as federal subsidies are not used to purchase such plans)."

To finish where I began, you can read the full text of the December 20 letter NRLC sent senators in Part Two. For a quick synopsis of the latest developments and how you can help, go to http://nrlactioncenter.com.

Near the end, you learn how you can help. That includes sending messages to your two U.S. senators and your U.S. house member and telephoning their offices.

As mentioned above there are still two key procedural votes this week. Make sure your voice is heard in opposition to the Reid health care bill.

Part Two