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House debates healthcare bill

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- As the U.S. House of Representatives debated the healthcare bill Saturday, President Obama came to the Capitol to help win over doubters.

Democratic House leaders hope to win approval for the 1,900-page, $1 trillion bill by the end of the day, The Washington Post reported. Since all Republicans are expected to vote against the bill, passage depends on keeping enough wavering Democrats in the fold.

Obama got to the Capitol just before noon, about three hours after the debate began.

Democrats agreed late Friday to allow members of the party who oppose abortion to offer an amendment that would effectively block federal funds from being used for the procedure. The amendment would ban the "public option" plan from covering abortions and bar anyone getting a subsidy for insurance from buying a private plan that pays for them.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports the rest of the bill, lobbied fiercely on the abortion issue. Republicans and a handful of Democrats say the bill is too expensive

"Today is the showdown on a government takeover over healthcare," said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La..

The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and need at least 218 votes to pass the bill.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/07/2009

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