Abortion Assumes Higher Profile in Health Care Reform Debate

In the 24/7-on-steroids news cycle, this morning's certainties can easily be part of this afternoon's disposables. So, it's not worth belaboring that lots of developments, some small and others large, have taken place in the two weeks my family and I were on vacation.

To be sure some of what came to pass arrived virtually suspense-free. The Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be forwarded soon to the full Senate by the Senate Judicial Committee. Equally unsurprising is that along the way Judge Sotomayor, who bobbed and weaved on Roe v. Wade, picked up the enthusiastic support of NARAL.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor / NARAL President Nancy Keenan

"From the beginning, we have said her nomination reflects the president's commitment to ensuring that justices have strong legal credentials and understand how the law affects everyday people's lives, including the need to keep politicians from interfering in our personal, private medical decisions," said NARAL president Nancy Keenan and NARAL Pro-Choice New York president Kelli Conlin in a joint statement. The Catholic News Agency reported last week that "Keenan and Conlin explained that strong support for Sotomayor from their 'pro-choice allies' contributed to their own decision to support her nomination, as did President Obama's 'consistent record' of support for Roe v. Wade and for placing likeminded individuals in 'key posts.'"

But the debate over health care "reform" has continued to shift faster than a quick change artist. NRL is working diligently to assure that whatever "reform" comes out does not ration care or weave abortion in the warp and woof of medical care.

And as much as it drives the Abortion Establishment crazy, it is becoming harder to keep their intentions masked. In fact, thanks in large measure to NRLC's Federal Legislative Department, the abortion issue has assumed a high profile.

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan listed abortion as one of the principle reasons support "for full health-care reform" will lessen.

"Second, and this is big, some of the bills being worked on in Congress will allow for or mandate taxpayer funding of abortion," she wrote. "[P]utting abortion in the mix….breaks and jangles the coalition, telling those who believe abortion is evil that they not only have to accept its legality but now have to pay for it in a brand new plan, for which they'll be more highly taxed. This is taking a knife to your own supporters."

In this context, it is very important to remember how critically important it was that pro-abortion President Barack Obama persuaded the electorate he was not an either/or but a both/and candidate. One of his most brilliant rhetorical flourishes was to insist that there were no red states or blue states--just red, white, and blue states. In other words, we are ultimately all in this together.

Making it possible--indeed assuring--that millions of more unborn babies will be sacrificed is the very epitome of throwing some of us under the bus.

The battle will only grow hotter and more intense over the next couple of months. Be sure to check www.nrlactioncenter.com daily to learn what you can do to prevent the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

Pro-abortion President Barack Obama