A top Democratic US lawmaker said Thursday abortion foes are ready to kill President Barack Obama's huge health overhaul unless it meets their demands to block funding for the procedure.
"I want to see health care, but we're not going to bypass some principles and beliefs and we feel strongly about," Representative Bart Stupak told ABC television.
Stupak said he and roughly a dozen Democratic allies "are prepared to take responsibility" for scuttling the sweeping legislation if they do not get their version of a ban on what they view as federal subsidies for abortion.
Stupak voted for the House of Representatives version of the health care bill last year only after inserting tough language forbidding federal subsidies from going to health plans that offer the procedure.
And he has sharply criticized the Senate's version of the legislation for what he says are provisions that would lead to federal funding for abortions.
Obama announced Wednesday a final push to pass the bill under a process expected to use the Senate bill, with some modifications, as the baseline legislation.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the president believes "the health-reform bill should not change the status quo on abortion policy in America.
"But this will not change the status quo on the policy of abortion. There will be no federal funding for abortions," she added. "This isn't about an abortion debate. It's about health reform."
Copyright 2010  AFP Global Edition
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