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Ample Time For Redemption
December 23, 2009
Prayers and support for Sen Ben Nelson to reconsider his vote
Nebraska democratic Senator Ben Nelson sold out. It’s true and the pro-life community is disappointed, despondent and angered. Senator Nelson had repeatedly vowed that he would not vote for the senate version of “healthcare reform” unless the bill included strict language prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion. The senator had proposed an amendment similar to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment included in the House healthcare bill.
Instead, at the 11th hour, Senator Nelson caved. Not to pressure, but to temptation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made Nelson an offer he simply did not want to refuse. A $100 million payoff to Nelson by way of a permanent exemption from increased state contributions to Medicaid for Nebraska. In return, Senator Nelson disgraced himself by agreeing to accept watered down restrictions regarding federal funding of abortions.
Senator Nelson has been roundly castigated by the pro-life community, including in our Christian Conservative Spectator article Fall Of The Republic. But he surely has heard our voices and now is the time to forgive. We all err and we all succumb to temptation on occasion. And in Senator Nelson’s case there is ample time for a generally staunch defender of the unborn to make amends and find redemption.
Ben Nelson had been the most reliable pro-life democratic vote in the senate. His pro-life credentials include an 85% rating from the National Right To Life Committee for his 2007-2008 110th Congress voting record and a 7% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice during the same period. Nelson’s 85% NRLC rating equals pro-life republican senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Orin Hatch and Robert Bennett.
Another Capps Amendment hustle
Yet the “compromise” language on federal funding for abortion Sen Nelson found acceptable was composed in Harry Reid’s office by some of the most hard core, uncompromising pro-abortion members of congress- Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. All with NRLC ratings of zero.
The Nelson-Reid Compromise basically duplicates the bogus Capps Amendment to the House healthcare bill. Pro-life democrats in the House saw the Capps Amendment for what it was- legislative bait and switch, written in Clintonese and riddled with loopholes. They insisted that Capps be overwritten by the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. Deep down, Sen Ben Nelson has to know the compromise he agreed to in Harry Reid’s office is a sham.
The Nelson-Reid compromise has already been rejected by Congressman Bart Stupak, the National Right To Life Committee and the US Conference Of Catholic Bishops. Proving their point, Secretary Of Health And Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, in an interview on Blogher.com, made it clear the senate bill will provide funding for abortions. This will be done, ala the Capps Amendment, through an accounting gimmick that amounts to an abortion head tax on every participant in the “Insurance Exchange” set up in the senate bill.
Sebelius: “The Senate language… take(s) a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment. Everybody in the exchange would do the same thing… you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund… it would be a separate account that everyone in the exchange would pay. It’s really an accounting measure that would apply across the board and not just to women and certainly not just to women who want to choose abortion coverage.”
Everyone in the Exchange, which is intended to be the forerunner of an eventual government controlled insurance plan, contributes to abortions, whether they like it or not. Watch the interview here on You Tube
Senator Nelson at first tried to palm off the compromise on pressure from Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman to secure the exemption to state Medicaid contribution increases for Nebraska. In a harsh letter to Nelson, Governor Heineman refuted Nelson’s allegation of pressure and stated “The bottom line remains this bill is bad news for Nebraska and bad news for America.”
Ample time for a good man to make amends
This sets the stage for Sen Nelson to take the time to reflect on his decision. It now makes no difference whether there was any dialogue between Nebraska’s governor and Sen Nelson. Governor Heineman has publicly refuted not only the exemption Nelson received in return for comprising on abortion, but the senate bill in its entirety as being bad for Nebraska and America. Senator Nelson no longer has any reason to compromise on his once firm stand for a Stupak-Pitts type amendment. Nor to vote for the bill for that matter.
Senator Nelson has heard the outrage. And rightly so. But it is time to move on. Senator Nelson has compiled an admirable pro-life voting record. And in his defense, we need to take the time to try and understand the pressure the man has been under from his own party and the President Of The United States. He had been the lone hold out, not an easy position for anyone to be in.
While there is a remote possibility of Obamacare falling apart during conference when the Senate and House attempt to reconcile their bills into one, it is extremely unlikely. Initiation of a government takeover of healthcare is too important to President Obama ideologically and he has gone to far on this politically. Senator Ben Nelson will have to vote on some type of healthcare legislation one more time.
There is still ample time for Senator Nelson to make amends. Ample time to reflect on what his vote will mean for millions of unborn children in the years to come. Ample time to reflect on the gravity of forcing every citizen in America to fund the cruelty of abortion with their tax dollars. Ample time to come home to the pro-life community who has faithfully supported him and prays for him now at this crucial hour.
Besieged from both sides for the last month, Sen Nelson is most likely feeling like a pretty lonely man right now. During the next few weeks it is important that we let him know that he still has our prayers and support. Have faith that, in the end, Senator Ben Nelson will once again cast his vote in defense of America’s unborn.
Senator Ben Nelson (D NE) can be contacted through our White House And Congressional Contact
Category: "Obamacare, Politics Of Abortion
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