Reid backs amendment on unintended pregnancies

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 10:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Preventing unintended pregnancies that can otherwise result in abortions is the main idea behind a bill amendment, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said this morning in announcing his sponsorship of it.

Reid, the Senate minority leader, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce the amendment as debate on the budget resolution continues. The amendment calls for $100 million for a national family planning program and would require private health plans to offer the same level of coverage for contraception as for other prescription drugs.

Reid said the $100 million would come from the increased revenue the government could collect from closing "corporate loopholes" in the tax code. He has not identified any specific potential sources of funding for the program, however.

Reid, who opposes abortion, said this should be a bipartisan bill.

"I think there is little we can do to take away the emotion of that issue (abortion), but what we can do is find common ground," Reid said. "It's not only common ground we need, it's common sense."

Reid said half of all unintended pregnancies are aborted in the United States.

Clinton said she can't understand why anyone would object to preventing unintended pregnancies that have led to 1.3 million abortions.

"For those people who are deeply committed to a position that is against abortion, this should be an amendment they embrace," Clinton said.

Reid said it should not matter if someone supports or is against abortion, the goal of the amendment is to reduce unintended pregnancies.

Meanwhile, the Senate approved Sen. John Ensign's amendment Wednesday that would provide an additional $410 million for veteran's health care programs. the amendment also reduced veteran's co-pays for prescription drugs and eliminates a proposed $250 enrollment fee for government health care programs, according to Ensign's office. It also calls for $100 million for mental health service and $100 million for prosthetics for veterans by cutting money spent on foreign aid.

The Senate will vote on numerous amendments late into the night tonight and hopes to wrap up the budget resolution before adjourning for a two-week recess on Friday.