In a conference call with bloggers this afternoon, I asked CongressDaily's lead reporter on health care issues, Anna Edney, about the status of the Stupak-Pitts amendment on the Senate side. She indicated that Ben Nelson is still considering drawing up an amendment that would approximate Stupak-Pitts, though he's also considering the Capps amendment from the original House bill.
Nelson should take some guidance from David Axelrod on what President Obama will accept.
(CNN) – As Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to avoid a brewing intra-party battle over treatment of abortion in health care reform legislation, a top presidential adviser is reiterating that President Obama remains opposed to legislation that contains language preferred by more conservative Democrats in Congress....
In an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Obama adviser David Axelrod reiterated the president’s position on how abortion should be handled in the debate over health care reform.
"The president has said repeatedly, and he said in his speech to Congress, that he doesn’t believe that this bill should change the status quo as it relates to the issue of abortion," Axelrod told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. "He’s going to work with the Senate and the House to try to ensure that at the end of the day the status quo is not changed."
Asked specifically whether the Stupak amendment changed the status quo, Axelrod replied "I think it’s fair to say the bill Congress passed does change the status quo. But I believe there are discussions ongoing as to how to change it accordingly."
If Ben Nelson wants to try to derail healthcare reform, this would be one way to do it, by introducing a Stupak-like amendment that will almost certainly fail, but could result in prolonged floor debate.