The Politico is
reporting that the Democrats are now confident that they have
the 218 votes needed to pass the House health care bill. If the
bill does end up passing, it seems that the difference maker
would be the passage of the Stupak amendment barring taxpayer
funding for abortion, which hasn't been voted on yet but is
expected to pass. But assuming this turns out to be the case, the
big questions are: will Democrats actually defy Planned
Parenthood and keep the pro-life language in the final,
reconciled bill? And if it gets stripped, then how do the
pro-life Democrats end up voting when the merged bill comes up
for a vote in the House?
Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor's office counts 33
Democrats who are confirmed "no" votes. That would mean that the
maximum number of votes the bill would get would be 225.
