Breaking: Nelson caves, Senate passes pro-abortion bill tonight

I've been deluged with emails this weekend keeping me up to date on the rapid developments taking place in the health care debate.

The most important news to absorb is that Senator Nelson - at this point - has caved and is promising to support Senator Reid's pro-abortion bill when it is voted upon at 1AM tonight {update - he did cave and became the 60th and final vote for Reid's pro-abortion bill.}

He refused to listen to pro-life groups who were attempting to support him, opting instead to strike a backroom deal with Senator Reid which saves his state of Nebraska $100 million over the next decade, as I report on the APP blog.

Others have noted the implications of Nelson's "sweetheart" deal:

"Deacon Keith Fournier describes this as Nelson’s “bag of silver.”  Fournier explains, “If Senator Ben Nelson actually sold his vote for a bag of silver for Nebraska then this has become a ‘Judas moment’ not a ‘Thomas More moment’ and its implications are evil.”

The Casey-Nelson solution is unacceptable. The National Right to Life Committee is crystal clear :

"The manager’s amendment [= Casey-Nelson compromise] is light years removed from the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that was approved by the House of Representatives on November 8 by a bipartisan vote of 240-194.  The new abortion language solves none of the fundamental abortion-related problems with the Senate bill, and it actually creates some new abortion-related problems."

The message from the US bishops, when briefed about Nelson's decision, is uncompromising:

The Senate health reform bill should not move forward in its current form, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City said December 19, as senators proceeded closer to a vote.

... [the bill] should be opposed unless and until such serious concerns have been addressed. The bishops' conference continues to study that 383-page amendment's implications from the perspective of all the bishops' moral concerns -- protection of life and conscience, affordable access to health care, and fairness to immigrants.

Deal Hudson - who has been very active in this debate through his new innitiative the Catholic Advocate - picks up on an argument I made last week during my EWTN appearance last week: "A Vote for Cloture Is a Vote for Abortion" (basically, anyone who votes for the current legislation is voting to create and expand federal sponsorship of abortion, in opposition to long-standing policy). Deal also writes :

The fight over federal funding for abortion will now move back to the House where 62 Democrats voted for the Stupak-Pitts amendment — it remains to be seen how many of those Democrats will follow in the footsteps of Sen. Ben Nelson.

Once again the bright light will fall on Cong. Bart Stupak (D-MI) who stood up against immense pressure last month to get his amendment passed.

Deal is absolutely right - presuming the bill is passed out of the Senate - everything hinges on Rep. Stupak and his coalition of pro-life Democrats in the House. That's our last cause for hope.

As further background, the Catholic Health Association came out in support of the Casey-Nelson compromise, and Steven Ertelt picks apart why they probably did so. Shame on them. The Catholic Medical Association, meanwhile, is strongly against the bill. Good for them.


I will update this post as I find out more information.


Update 1:15 AM - the Senate ended debate and passed the bill on a party line vote of 60-40. All 58 Democrats and 2 Independents voted on the bill, not a single Republican voted for the bill. Senators Casey and Nelson both supported the pro-abortion bill. A sad day for America and the protection of unborn human life, but the fight is not over.