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Health Care Bill Stirs Abortion Debate

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Nov 9, 2009 11:32 pm US/Eastern

Health Care Bill Stirs Abortion Debate

Reporting
Ralph Iannotti
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The House approved a health care reform bill - one with strict restrictions on abortions.

It is now headed to the Senate, with the White House hoping to get the final version on President Obama's desk by year's end.

However, abortion opponents scored a weekend victory when the House bill incorporated the abortion prohibitions, specifically denying the use of federal dollars from going to pay for abortions.

Both sides in the abortion debate agree that lobbying by Catholic Bishops from around the country helped preserve the so-called Stupak amendment in the landmark House health measure.

"I was on the phone with all three of our Congress people over the course of this legislation just to be able to express how strong my own feelings were," Pittsburgh Catholic Bishop David Zubik told KDKA-TV.  "And I have that obligation to do that I think as a religious leader in the area."

Bishop Zubik and other Catholic leaders say they support health care reform, but not if it provides funds for abortions.

Heather Arnet, executive director of the Women's and Girl's Foundation, is critical of the Stupak amendment.

"It's altering civil rights for one aspect of the population - poor individuals," she said. "And I think that's something that should be of concern to all Americans. The last thing we want is to be creating separate civil rights, civil rights for wealthy individuals and civil rights for our poorest and most vulnerable families."

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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