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

Health Reform Is A Risk Worth Taking The Washington Post
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).

Now For The Slaughter The Wall Street Journal 
I wonder at what point the administration will realize it wasn't worth it—worth the discord, worth the diminution in popularity and prestige, worth the deepening of the great divide. What has been lost is so vivid, what has been gained so amorphous, blurry and likely illusory (Peggy Noonan, 3/18).

Why We Reform The New York Times
And what is on the table, ready to go, is legislation that is fiscally responsible, takes major steps toward dealing with rising health care costs, and would make us a better, fairer, more decent nation (Paul Krugman, 3/18).

ObamaCare, Abortion And The Reagan Democrats Kaiser Health News
The views of a number of Midwest House Democrats on the issue of abortion may be the deciding factor (Chuck Donovan, 3/19).

The Changing Status Quo On Federal Abortion Funding Kaiser Health News
Yet the worst effect of this debate may be the reinforcement of a two-tiered system where only rich women are able to exercise their constitutionally protected rights (Jessica Arons, 3/19).

Release Of Medicare Data Could Help Reform Health Care System The Washington Post
Releasing these physician-identified claims data (which, again, protect patient privacy) would make it possible for independent organizations … to develop and produce rigorous measures and reports on the performance of physicians, medical groups and other providers, free of political or provider pressure (Michael Leavitt and Robert Krughoff, 3/19).

American Health Care Reform: Pass The Bill The Economist
Mr Obama's bill does a morally desirable thing in expanding health coverage, and it does a bit on costs. That is, on balance, enough for it to deserve to pass (3/18).