US Senate Democrats reached a compromise today with holdout Senator Ben Nelson that secured the 60 votes they need to pass the broad healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.
Senator Nelson said a long day of negotiating yesterday had concluded with an agreement that meets his goal of ensuring federal funds are not used to pay for abortions under the bill.
"The plan that we've put together here, that we have agreement on, in fact walls off that money in an effective manner," Mr Nelson told reporters, pledging to back final passage and support Democrats on upcoming votes to clear Republican procedural hurdles.
"I know these limits on abortion are hard for some people to accept," he said. "But I would not have voted for this bill without them." Mr Nelson, a strong abortion rights opponent, had been the elusive 60th vote for Democrats on the sweeping overhaul, Obama's top legislative priority.
The agreement followed 13 hours of negotiating today.
Mr Nelson's vote should secure victory for Democrats in the first of a series of crucial procedural votes scheduled to begin at 1am on Monday and possibly conclude with final passage on Christmas Eve.
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, a strong supporter of abortion rights, told reporters she believed the compromise would manage to separate public and private funds for abortion coverage under the bill.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell vowed to use every tool possible to delay the bill, and he forced the public reading of an amendment Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid unveiled on Saturday that makes final changes in the measure, including the abortion language.
The reading was expected to take much of the day. The moves came during a rare Saturday session of the Senate as a huge snowstorm slammed the US capital, shutting down traffic.
Mr Obama has asked the Senate to finish by year's end to prevent the issue from spilling into the campaign for November 2010 congressional elections.
Opinion polls show the bill losing public support, with majorities now opposed to it.
The Senate bill would extend coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, provide subsidies to help them pay for the coverage and halt industry practices like refusing insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Mr Reid's amendment incorporates a variety of other changes, from dropping the government-run public insurance option to adding non-profit health plans offered
by private insurers and administered by a federal agency.
Reuters