Marylanders on both sides of the abortion divide are steeling themselves for a historic clash over the procedure, after lawmakers voted to prohibit federal subsidies for insurance that covers it.
Under the restriction, which was added late Saturday to make the House passage of the health care overhaul possible, elective abortions would not be covered by private insurance policies subsidized by the government or by the public option.
Local battle lines were taking shape as the issue threatened to recast the health care debate nationally. Since Saturday's vote, dozens of House members have pledged to derail the entire overhaul if the abortion provision survives. And in the Senate, at least one Democrat emerged as a possible candidate to propose similar language.
If the restrictions become law, abortion rights supporters say, they would effectively deny access to the procedure for the low- and moderate-income Americans that the health care bill is intended to insure. But abortion opponents said it's too early to celebrate.
"That addresses one major concern we had," said Jeff Meister, chief lobbyist in Annapolis for Maryland Right to Life Inc. But he added: "Who knows what will come out of the Senate after they're finished? There's still a lot of work to be done."
Rep. Donna Edwards, meanwhile, expressed confidence that what she called "this ridiculous, onerous, overextended" restriction would be stripped from the legislation before it returns for a final vote.
"I'm not just hopeful for it, I'm going to fight for it," said the Prince George's County Democrat, who joined colleagues Monday in letters to President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders urging a reversal.
The measure, designed to attract moderate and conservative Democrats to support the bill, was the result of a furious lobbying effort Saturday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Catholic church has long advocated for universal health insurance coverage, but opposes abortion.
"When it comes to abortion and research on human life, we can't compromise on those things," Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, spiritual leader of the area's half million Catholics, said Monday. "Once we get the foundation established that human life has to be respected, then let the debate go on as to what the health bill will contain."
