Kyle Bell

House Democrats voted tonight in favor of a healthcare bill that has been making its way through Congress for the past six months. The final vote was 220 to 175. 219 Democrats voted in favor of passage and 39 Democrats voted against. 1 Republican joined Democrats in supporting the final bill while 176 Republicans voted against healthcare reform. 218 votes were needed for passage.

Before the final version of the bill was voted on 64 House Democrats joined 176 Republicans in adopting an amendment proposed by Representative Stupak of Michigan that would keep current law regarding public funding of abortion – which is prohibited. Further, it would prohibit private plans in the so-called “healthcare exchange” that would provide consumers with a number of different options for healthcare plans. The majority of Democrats contend that this amendment will result in dropped coverage for women seeking an abortion under existing private plans.

The Republican substitute amendment, which would only cover 3 million Americans vs. 36 million under the Democratic plan, lost a vote before the full House with zero Democrats voting in favor. A single Republican voted against his party on their substitute proposal – Illinois Representative Tim Johnson. The Republican proposal focused on tort reform and all but ignored the estimated 45 million uninsured Americans, along with issues such as outlawing pre-existing conditions.

*Edit*

If you are interested in knowing how your member of Congress voted on the Affordable Health Care for America Act, visit the following link: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml Man are they fast! The vote totals got posted within a few minutes. Also, I have included a video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s floor speech earlier this afternoon below.