WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Centrist Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Thursday he won't vote to let healthcare legislation move ahead unless it has more restrictive language on abortion.
Nelson rejected a compromise offered by fellow abortion opponent Sen. Bob Casey Jr. , D-Pa., The Hill reported. Pro-abortion rights groups also spoke against the Casey language, which wasn't made public, the Washington publication said.
"If it's not at the point where I think it needs to be with the improvements that I'm pushing -- and they've made a lot of them -- then I will not vote for cloture on the motion to end debate," Nelson said in an interview on KLIN radio in Nebraska. "There's a lot of improvement on the legislation but the basic question on funding for abortion hasn't been answered yet," he said.
Nelson said he also was concerned about the bill's level of new spending, particularly on state Medicaid budgets and the taxes included to finance it.
Spending provisions could create an "underfunded federal mandate for the state of Nebraska," Nelson said.
"If you're going to extend coverage then obviously there has to be a way to raise the money. The way in which money is raised is not acceptable," he said. "So if there isn't a way to raise the money in tight times, I think you have to look at a scaled-back version."
Several liberal senators indicated they wouldn't back the compromise because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada cut a proposal that would have created a public health insurance option to meet the demands of centrists such as like Nelson and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn.
