The Nelson Amendment is the name given to an amendment to restrict federal funding of elective abortions in the Senate version of

America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 The proposed America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 () was an unsuccessful bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 14, 2009. The bill was introduced during the first session of the 111th Congress as part of an effo ...

No abortions funded with government money

Democratic Senator

Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Demo ...

had said he would not support a bill that "doesn't make it clear that it does not fund abortion with government money".

Support for a filibuster

He introduced a Senate version of the

Stupak–Pitts Amendment The Stupak–Pitts Amendment was a proposed amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2010 (AHCAA). It was submitted by Representatives Bart Stupak (Democrat of Michigan) and Joseph R. Pitts (Republican of Pennsylvania). Its stated ...

and threatened to support a

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

of the Senate bill if the language was not included.MacGillis, Alec
Both sides question health bill's abortion compromise
''The Washington Post'', December 22, 2009

Segregation of elective abortion funding

He later agreed to accept a version that would allow people to use federal subsidies to buy plans that include abortion coverage while requiring them to pay for elective abortion coverage separately without subsidies. States could exclude plans providing abortion coverage from their respective exchanges. After criticism from national

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

organizations, Nelson shifted his position and indicated that he would lobby for tighter restrictions on elective abortion funding similar to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.

Relationship with Scott Brown's election

Until

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

's election to the Senate in January 2010, the Nelson Amendment was viewed by the pro-choice leadership of the Democratic party as one of the big hurdles in passing legislation, along with other significant issues such as the

public option The public health insurance option, also known as the public insurance option or the public option, is a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the United ...

.Senate turns to health bill's major obstacles
/ref>

References

Abortion in the United States Healthcare reform legislation in the United States {{abortion-stub