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KHN columns explore how abortion funding issues are factoring into health reform

In one Kaiser Health News column, Jessica Arons writes: "In an attempt to keep health reform from being torpedoed by the ever-contentious topic of abortion, advocates and opponents of abortion rights were expected to agree that legislation would preserve the "status quo" on abortion law and not be used to advance or restrict abortion rights.

20 Mar 2010

Canadian Prime Minister says he's open to including contraception in G8 plan for improving maternal, child health

"Facing a squall of condemnation from aid groups and opposition politicians," following statements by Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon that Canada's G8 maternal and child health initiative would not include family planning, Prime Minister Stephen Harper "disavowed his foreign minister Thursday, promising that the federal government would include contraception programs in its maternal-health foreign-aid initiative," the Globe and Mail reports.

20 Mar 2010

Today's OpEds: Wash Post, Economist support health bill, others articulate opposition

But if legislators are asked to cast an up-or-down vote in the next few days, our advice would be to vote yes. With trepidation, we would say that the benefits of acting outweigh the risks (3/19).

20 Mar 2010

Divisions within pro-life groups on overhaul ease opposition

A previously steadfast coalition opposed to abortion - which feared that the health overhaul could divert federal money to support the procedure - is beginning to crack, The Christian Science Monitor reports. "Increasingly, abortion foes - including high-profile Catholic organizations and members of Congress - are saying that while the language aimed at preventing use of federal funds for abortion is not perfect, the bill is still worth passing as a first step."

19 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 19, 2010

The headlines reflect yesterday's flurry of activity as House Democratic Leaders unveiled their $940 billion health-care compromise bill and steamed toward a Sunday vote. All the while, Republican leaders plotted was to stall this progress and nullify the measure.

19 Mar 2010

Catholic nuns, some Catholic lawmakers, announce support for health care overhaul

The Los Angeles Times: "Their numbers and influence may be declining, but American nuns demonstrated Wednesday what generations of schoolchildren already knew: They are a force to be reckoned with. By sending a letter to Congress in support of the Senate healthcare bill, a wide coalition of nuns took sides against not only the Republican minority but against their own church hierarchy, as represented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposes the bill.

19 Mar 2010

House Democrats continue push for weekend House vote on health reform measure

House Democratic leaders continued efforts to pick-up support for health reform in the House while also tinkering around the edges of the overhaul legislative package -- all in anticipation of a Sunday vote in the House.

19 Mar 2010

Reforming healthcare

President Obama and his chief allies in Congress are at the final stages of structuring the historic year-long process of reforms in the health care legislation with changes in subsidies, taxes and assurance of better health care plans.

18 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 18, 2010

Today's headlines indicate that Democrats are inching closer to securing the votes necessary to pass their health bill while the GOP is planning steps to bottle neck the measure's progress.

18 Mar 2010

Family planning will not be included in Canada's G8 maternal health initiative, Foreign Minister says

"Canada's 'signature' initiative at June's G8 summit - a strategy to improve the health of mothers and young children in poor countries" will not include family planning programs, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said on Tuesday, the Globe and Mail reports. Cannon said the initiative "does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning. Indeed, the purpose of this is to be able to save lives."

18 Mar 2010

Dems move forward with 'deem and pass' strategy; Some Dem. holdouts express support for reform

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room: "The House will have a clean up-or-down vote on the Senate's healthcare vote in the form of a rules vote, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday. As Democrats prepare to move forward with health reform efforts, Hoyer seemed to confirm the so-called 'deem and pass' strategy that would see the House indirectly approve the Senate's health bill through a vote on a rule making changes to it.

18 Mar 2010

Senate parliamentarian wields authority over Democrats' health care efforts

The Associated Press: "When Congress battles over thorny bills, parliamentarian Alan Frumin has been known to sleep in his office — on call 24/7 as the Senate's Solomon, divining the answers. Frumin's ability to review long-standing rules and centuries of precedent to resolve Senate questions makes the mustachioed parliamentarian something of a Washington rock star these days.

18 Mar 2010

House Democratic leader twisting arms of the rank-and-file; Tracking health reform vote tally

Democrats are pressuring fellow members to accept the health care reform legislation and are playing hardball to secure votes for the health reform package.

18 Mar 2010

House Democrats move health bill with controversial, complicated strategy

House Democrats have started the clock to a landmark vote on sweeping changes to America's health care system.

17 Mar 2010

Obama makes a final overhaul pitch in Ohio

With a possible deciding vote on health care overhaul legislation nearing, President Obama traveled Monday to Ohio to make a last-minute plea for political "courage" to pass the legislation, The Washington Post reports. "Making an impassioned pitch in a part of the country where unemployment runs high and insurance coverage is uncertain, Obama said in a speech at a senior center here, 'I don't know about the politics, but I know what's the right thing to do'" (Slevin and Branigin, 3/15).

17 Mar 2010

Democrats making final push for health reform votes

The Associated Press: As "Democratic leaders make a desperate scramble for votes," President Obama "is wooing freshman Democrats in the Oval Office, holding at least two one-on-one sessions in the past few days that never appeared on his official schedule, according to aides to two lawmakers invited, Reps. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., and Suzanne Kosmas, D-Fla.," who both voted no on a House health reform measure last year.

17 Mar 2010

Catholic Bishops oppose health bill, while other Catholic groups offer support

McClatchy: "The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Monday it opposes the Democratic health care plan heading for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives because of its language on abortion. The group noted that it liked the House health care bill because it would continue the strict ban on federal financing of abortion.

17 Mar 2010

Health ad campaigns emerge in final days of debate

As Congress approaches a possible finale to its year-long health debate, advertisements that attempt to influence the results have flooded airwaves, Time reports. "Across the country, groups on all sides of the health care reform debate have been targeting swing members of Congress with costly ad campaigns." Firms, industry groups, unions and advocacy organizations could spend $24 million this week alone, on top of $200 million already spent on health overhaul-related ads (Scherer, 3/16).

16 Mar 2010

Clinton delivers speech at U.N. women's meeting as conference closes

"Calling the subjugation of women a threat to American security, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary [Rodham] Clinton made a vibrant plea to give equal rights to women around the world," during a speech a the U.N. on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Mar 2010

New guidelines to emphasize safety of dental treatment during pregnancy

Spotlighting the importance of oral health care for expectant mothers, the California Dental Association Foundation has released new guidelines designed to emphasize the safety of dental treatment during pregnancy and ensure women the services they need.

16 Mar 2010