The Nelson Deal Will Not Stop Federal Funding of Abortions

Sen. Ben Nelson's decision to trade his principles regarding abortion for some money for Nebraska will be spun as a compromise that will help keep abortions from being paid for by federal dollars.

Not at all, as pointed out by the Catholic Advocate:

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), the last hope of pro-life forces, has caved in to Democratic Party and White House pressure to support the Senate Health Care Bill. He indicated today he would support the bill based upon the “manager’s amendment” containing the so-called “compromise” language on abortion funding negotiated by Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), the son of the legendary pro-life, Catholic governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey.

Casey’s language, now approved by Nelson, makes federal funding for abortion the default position of health care reform. The Washington Post describes the compromise as follows:

Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in insurance exchanges the bill would set up to serve individuals who don’t have employer coverage. Plus, enrollees in plans that do cover abortion procedures would pay for the coverage with separate checks – one for abortion, one for the remainder of health-care services.

The notion of “segregated funds,” of course, is nothing but an auditor’s trick. Once dollars become part of a program they support the whole of the program, regardless in which column they are found. As Family Research Council’s Tom McClusky said to LifeNews.com in response to the new compromise, “Reid’s bill would force taxpayers to pay for abortions even if they opt out.”

The fight over federal funding for abortion will now move back to the House where 62 Democrats voted for the Stupak-Pitts amendment — it remains to be seen how many of those Democrats will follow in the footsteps of Sen. Ben Nelson.

If there's one real message coming out of Nelson's betrayal of his stated principles it's that there's no such thing as a conservative or moderate Democrat. They're all lefties at heart no matter what they try and appear to be to their constituents. You can't protect conservative values if you're counting on Democrats to do it.