Republicans Demand Further Abortion Restrictions in ACA Deal

Well, that didn't take long.

It's Tuesday afternoon, November 11th.

Sunday night, November 9th,

uh it was announced that eight Senate

Democrats and one independent, Angus

King from Maine,

uh were going to vote with Republicans

to reopen the government. As part of

that agreement, Senate Republicans were

going to hold an open vote on the

Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Uh however,

Senate Republicans now say that they are

open to extending uh a pot of Affordable

Care Act funds that will expire at the

end of the year, which is what they

agreed to Sunday night,

but only if Democrats acquies to

stricter abortion restrictions in

insurance plans.

The demand presents a significant hurdle

to reaching a bipartisan deal to extend

ACA funding designed to avoid major

premium hikes next year for more than 20

million Americans. As Democrats are

adamant that existing abortion guard

rail, existing abortion guard rails

under Obamacare are sufficient.

Senate Majority Leader John Thun said

that Republican said there will be a

negotiation about an extension after the

government reopens.

Less than 48 hours ago, he said there

would be a full vote on the floor of the

Senate. Now, he's saying there's going

to be a negotiation about that.

He said one condition will be stricter

rules pertaining to the Hight Amendment,

which bars federal funds from being used

for abortions anywhere on the planet.

To satisfy Democratic demands to comply

with the Hight Amendment when Obamacare

passed in 2010, the law does not allow

federal funds to cover abortions. Some

states allow people insured under

Obamacare to access abortion coverage

using state or other funding.

Republicans want to change that. They

want to take all of it away.

So the DOS decision wasn't enough for

them overturning Row versus Wade.

Now,

if you want an extension

on your health care subsidies under the

Affordable Care Act,

Republicans want to further access

further restrict women's access to

abortions and other uh maternity related

care.

I

took less than 48 hours.

Took less than 48 hours. And Jean

Shaheen,

who was the lead negotiator,

she's a senator from New Hampshire, who

I think is retiring at the end of this

current term, 2026.

Uh she negotiated the deal that

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate

came to Sunday night.

She said there's no way that they'll

agree to that. Senator Jean Shaheen,

Democrat from New Hampshire,

responded with a flat no when asked if

there's any way Democrats agree to

stricter abortion limitations in order

to extend the ACA funds. It's a

non-starter, she said, pointing to the

guard the existing guard rails on

abortion funding built into the ACA.

It's not an issue. We already dealt with

that issue. Amazingly,

Republicans are ignoring her and other

Senate Democrats after seven Senate

Democrats and one independent gave away

all of the leverage that they had during

the government shutdown. a government

shutdown which they were winning.

Lucy in the football, man. Every single

time. Lucy in the football.

I mean,

what does it matter if there is a

built-in cohort of 7 to 10 Democrats in

the Senate who will just cave every

[ __ ] time?

Every single time.

Every single time.