Is the Senate avoiding something on the issue of health care reform?

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, from the USCCB, thinks so:

The thousands of pages in the health care reform legislation contain much to ponder, but what’s most puzzling is the shying away from the Hyde Amendment in the Senate bill.

The Hyde Amendment was first passed in 1976 and prevents use of federal money to pay for elective abortions and health plans that include them. It has saved U.S. taxpayers from having to pay for others’ elective abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been satisfactory for America for almost 35 years. Why not incorporate it into health care reform legislation now?

The House version of the health care reform legislation incorporated Hyde language and the Capitol Dome did not fall – in fact, inclusion of the language helped ensure House approval of the bill. For whatever reason, the Senate rejected that approach.

Why would any member of Congress want to use health care reform to promote elective abortion? And why has the Senate designed a system that lets insurance companies force people to pay for abortion services they do not want and find morally repulsive – and gives federal subsidies to those companies to help them do it?

Good questions. Continue at the link for the rest.